PERSON: Rex Tillerson

Rex Wayne Tillerson (born March 23, 1952) is an American businessman. He was the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of ExxonMobil from 2006 to 2016.<br> <br> Tillerson began his career as an engineer and holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Tillerson joined Exxon in 1975, and by 1989 had become general manager of the Exxon USA central production division. In 1995 he became president of Exxon Yemen Inc. and Esso Exploration and Production Khorat Inc. In 2006, Tillerson was elected chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon, the world’s 6th largest company by revenue. Tillerson retired from Exxon effective December 31, 2016, and was succeeded by Darren Woods. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.<br> <br> On December 13, 2016, President-elect Donald Trump announced that Tillerson would be his nominee for Secretary of State. He is a longtime contributor to Republican campaigns. Tillerson’s close business ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin have generated controversy, particularly in light of the revelations about Putin’s business dealings in the Panama papers. In 2014 Tillerson strongly opposed the sanctions against Russia. He has previously been the director of the joint US-Russian oil company Exxon Neftegas. In January 2017, it was revealed that while Tillerson was a senior executive at ExxonMobil, a European joint venture called Infineum conducted business with Iran, Syria, and Sudan when those states were under US sanctions.