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Peter Hart, phart@fwwatch.org
WASHINGTON - While consumers are getting hammered by high gas prices and spiraling energy costs linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, top fracking executives have seen their wealth soar. Since the beginning of the year, the value of shares currently held by the CEOs of just eight leading fossil fuel companies has increased by nearly $100 million.
A Food & Water Watch analysis of leading fossil fuel interests --- fracking companies Cheniere, EQT, EOG Resources, pipeline giants Kinder Morgan and Enbridge, and industry powerhouses Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Exxon Mobil - shows that executives have profited from the current crisis, taking advantage of global price increases that have sent company stocks soaring.
The value of Cheniere CEO Jack Fusco's company stock has increased by $25 million from January to March 10 of this year. ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods's stock holdings have increased by $25 million over the same period, while the value of Kinder Morgan CEO Steven Kean's stock has jumped nearly $15 million. Some of these corporate leaders have sold shares to cash in on the crisis; ConocoPhillips head Ryan Lance sold shares for $23 million in mid February, while Chevron CEO Michael Wirth sold $14 million worth of stock in January and February.
The companies are finding other ways to consolidate wealth in response to this crisis. These eight big fracked gas and export companies announced stock buybacks and repurchase authorizations in the last year totaling over $25 billion. That amassed wealth is equivalent to filling up 500,000,000 10 gallon tanks of gas at $5 a gallon or enough to heat the homes of over 33 million people for the winter (assuming a $750 gas bill).
"This data shows that a small handful of fossil fuel CEOs are making enormous and unconscionable profits from this invasion and the ensuing humanitarian crisis," said Food & Water Watch Research Director Amanda Starbuck. "The fracking industry is seeking a long-term strategy to deepen global dependence on dirty fossil fuels. It is nothing short of a cynical exploitation of a genuine crisis. The climate crisis demands a shift away from fossil fuels, and these companies are attempting to drive us in the opposite direction."
The invasion of Ukraine is being used by fossil fuel interests to promote an even greater expansion of liquified natural gas (LNG) exports, theoretically to replace Russian gas in Europe. EQT, the largest US gas company, launched a PR campaign with a plan titled "Unleashing U.S. LNG: The Largest Green Initiative on the Planet."
While the industry and White House officials make a push to increase drilling, this would have no impact on current gas prices. The campaign to promote LNG in response to Ukraine is a cynical calculation by the dominant players in the industry to lock in long-term contracts that would create decades of additional fossil fuel dependence.
Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.
(202) 683-2500"Even when individuals have done nothing wrong—and in fact have done the right thing—and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances," said the outgoing president.
This is a developing news story... Please check back for possible updates...
In the final hours of his presidency, Joe Biden on Monday issued preemptive pardons to a number of current and former lawmakers and public officials whom President-elect Donald Trump has attacked.
Those pardoned include Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and members of the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 insurrection incited by Trump, who has pledged to pursue retribution against his political opponents.
"The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense," Biden said in a statement. "Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country."
"These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing," the outgoing president continued. "Even when individuals have done nothing wrong—and in fact have done the right thing—and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances."
Biden has made sweeping use of his clemency powers in the final days of his White House term, commuting the sentences of thousands of people convicted for nonviolent drug offenses and almost completely emptying federal death row.
But Biden has not granted clemency to several high-profile individuals whose causes progressive lawmakers and human rights organizations have championed, including Charles Littlejohn—a former IRS contractor serving a five-year prison sentence for leaking the income tax records of thousands of rich Americans, Trump among them—and Steven Donziger, who faced an unprecedented legal assault led by Chevron after he helped secure a historic settlement against the company over oil dumped in the Amazon rainforest.
"The capture of our global economy by a privileged few has reached heights once considered unimaginable," said the executive director of Oxfam International.
An Oxfam report published Monday shows that the combined wealth of the world's billionaires surged three times faster in 2024 than the previous year, rising by $2 trillion as efforts to combat global poverty remained stagnant.
The findings come hours before the U.S. is set to inaugurate President-elect Donald Trump, a billionaire whose campaign for a second White House term was backed by the world's richest man and whose proposed Cabinet is stacked with billionaires. The report was also released as business and political elites gathered in Davos, Switzerland for the annual World Economic Forum summit.
According to Oxfam, an average of nearly four new billionaires emerged every week in 2024, and billionaires saw their wealth grow by roughly $5.7 billion per day.
"The capture of our global economy by a privileged few has reached heights once considered unimaginable," said Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International's executive director. "The failure to stop billionaires is now spawning soon-to-be trillionaires. Not only has the rate of billionaire wealth accumulation accelerated—by three times—but so too has their power."
"The crown jewel of this oligarchy is a billionaire president, backed and bought by the world's richest man Elon Musk, running the world's largest economy," Behar added. "We present this report as a stark wake-up call that ordinary people the world over are being crushed by the enormous wealth of a tiny few."
"Untaxed billions of dollars in inheritance is an affront to fairness, perpetuating a new aristocracy where wealth and power stays locked in the hands of a few."
Oxfam's new report—titled Takers, Not Makers—estimates that 36% of billionaire wealth is inherited and 18% stems from monopoly power accrued by corporate behemoths such as Amazon. Every billionaire under the age of 30 inherited their wealth, according to Oxfam.
Another 6% of global billionaire wealth can be attributed to "crony sources" such as "lobbying, funding political campaigns, and creating revolving doors between the private sector and civil service," the new report finds.
All told, "most billionaire wealth is taken, not earned—60% comes from either inheritance, cronyism and corruption, or monopoly power," the report estimates.
"The ultra-rich like to tell us that getting rich takes skill, grit, and hard work. But the truth is most wealth is taken, not made," said Behar. "So many of the so-called 'self-made' are actually heirs to vast fortunes, handed down through generations of unearned privilege. Untaxed billions of dollars in inheritance is an affront to fairness, perpetuating a new aristocracy where wealth and power stays locked in the hands of a few."
If current trends persist, Oxfam estimates that the world is on track to see at least five trillionaires within a decade.
"Last year we predicted the first trillionaire could emerge within a decade, but this shocking acceleration of wealth means that the world is now on course for at least five," said Anna Marriott, Oxfam's inequality policy lead. "The global economic system is broken, wholly unfit for purpose as it enables and perpetuates this explosion of riches, while nearly half of humanity continues to live in poverty."
In the face of such staggering wealth accumulation at the very top, Oxfam called on governments to abolish tax havens, tax the inheritances of the ultra-rich, more strictly regulate corporations to "ensure they pay living wages and cap CEO pay," and provide debt relief to economically struggling nations to "end the flow of wealth from South to North."
"Taken together, today's levels of extreme wealth concentration are based not on merit," said Oxfam. "These are takers, and not makers."
"We now have a president-elect who, the weekend before inauguration, is launching new businesses along with promises to deregulate... those sectors in a way to just blatantly profit off his own presidency."
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump faced a flood of criticism throughout the weekend for launching a cryptocurrency token as the world prepared for his Monday inauguration and policies expected to benefit the industry that helped Republicans take control of the White House and Congress.
"It is literally cashing in on the presidency—creating a financial instrument so people can transfer money to the president's family in connection with his office," Campaign Legal Center executive director Adav Noti toldThe New York Times. "It is beyond unprecedented."
Jordan Libowitz, vice president for communications at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, also contrasted Trump's move with behaviors of past presidents, tellingPolitico, "It is absolutely wild."
"After decades of seeing presidents-elect spend the time leading up to inauguration separating themselves from their finances to show that they don't have any conflicts of interest, we now have a president-elect who, the weekend before inauguration, is launching new businesses along with promises to deregulate... those sectors in a way to just blatantly profit off his own presidency," said Libowitz.
The president-elected announced the $TRUMP meme coin, hosted on the Solana blockchain, via his Truth social media platform and X—owned by Elon Musk, his ally and the richest person on the planet—on Friday, declaring that "it's time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!"
He linked to a website that explains "there are 200 million $TRUMP available on day one and will grow to a total of 1 billion $TRUMP over three years." It also states that "Trump Memes are intended to function as an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol '$TRUMP' and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type."
Forbesreported that "the remaining 80% of tokens that have yet to be publicly released are owned by the Trump Organization affiliate CIC Digital LLC and Fight Fight Fight LLC, a company formed in Delaware on January 7, according to state filings, and both companies will receive an undisclosed amount of revenue derived from trading activity."
The president-elect's son Eric Trump, who helps run Trump Organization, told the Times that "this is just the beginning."
"I am extremely proud of what we continue to accomplish in crypto," he said in a statement. "$TRUMP is currently the hottest digital meme on Earth."
In an article simply headlined, "Donald Trump, crypto billionaire," Axiosnoted that by Sunday morning, "Trump's crypto holdings were worth as much as $58 billion on paper, enough—with his other assets—to make him one of the world's 25 richest people."
Responding to Axios' report, Wa'el Alzayat, who served as a Middle East policy expert at the U.S. Department of State for a decade, said that "when I was in government I couldn't accept a lunch over $20. Now anyone can give our next president millions."
Predicting that "this is going to end VERY badly for everyone except Donald Trump and his cronies," journalist Jeff St. John said that "it is a scandal and an outrage."
The meme coin announcement came as "the elite of the crypto world" gathered in Washington, D.C. for the first-ever Crypto Ball.
The president-elect did not attend the event, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and the nominees for commerce and treasury secretary, Howard Lutnick and Scott Bessent, were there. Reporting on the gala, Reuterspointed out that the Trump "courted crypto campaign cash with promises to be a 'crypto president,' and is expected next week to issue executive orders aimed at reducing crypto regulatory roadblocks and promoting widespread adoption of digital assets."
Trump is no stranger to ethics scandals. As Mother Jonesdetailed:
The meme coin is just the latest in a bizarre line of grifty, super-weird takes on "merch." Last February, Trump showed off gold "Never Surrender High-Tops" for $399 at Sneaker Con, which had Fox Newsapplauding his appeal to Black voters. In March, he began endorsing the $59.99 "God Bless the USA Bible," which includes the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and handwritten lyrics to the chorus of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA." (Trump's inaugural committee has confirmed that he will not be using one of these Bibles to swear the presidential oath of office on Monday.) In August, Trump released a new round of his "baseball card" NFTs.
S.V. Dáte, a senior White House correspondent at HuffPost, highlighted Sunday that during the Republican's first term, "Trump's D.C. hotel was a convenient way for foreign and domestic lobbyists to put cash directly into his pocket."
"This crypto thing is next level. Anyone on the planet can put money directly into his pocket. Huge," Dáte added. "The efficiency here is a thing of beauty. With a hotel, you have all the costs of owning the property as well as paying cleaning staff, front desk staff, and so on. This selling of fake money is almost pure profit."
The Trump Organization sold the D.C. hotel in 2022, but The Wall Street Journalreported earlier this month that his "real estate company is in talks to reclaim" the property.