Rawl to Succeed Garvin as Exxon Chairman and CEO
Exxon, the world’s largest oil company, will change its leadership Jan. 1 as Lawrence G. Rawl replaces Clifton C. Garvin Jr. as chairman and chief executive, the company announced Wednesday.
Garvin, who has held the top post since 1978, will reach Exxon’s mandatory retirement age of 65 in December. He will also resign from the board of directors effective Jan. 1, Exxon officials said.
Rawl, 57, has been serving as president of the corporation since May, 1985. He will be replaced in that office by Lee R. Raymond, a senior vice president and director since 1984, the company said.
Rawl’s move to Exxon’s top spot came as little surprise, given a company tradition of the corporate president moving up when the chairman leaves.
Analysts said Rawl’s extensive background in oil and gas exploration suggests that Exxon will pay special attention to those areas in the years ahead.
“You tend to lead from what you know,” said Sanford Margoshes, an analyst at the Shearson Lehman Bros. securities firm.
“I’ve been told that Rawl is very knowledgeable on that end,” said Rosario Ilacqua, an analyst at the L. F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin securities firm. “So I think Exxon might become more venturesome in exploration.”
Some also credit Rawl as being the architect of Exxon’s major corporate restructuring begun in March, a possible indication of the kind of management he prefers.
In that retrenchment, Exxon trimmed its international operations from six divisions to one, among other things, and later cut its staff by more than 6,200 employees.
Joining the company in Oklahoma as a petroleum engineer in 1952, Rawl held several positions in domestic operations before being named coordinator of planning and evaluation of Exxon USA’s production department in 1963.
He later served as executive assistant to then-Chairman of the Board Michael L. Haider in New York and was named director and vice president of Exxon USA in 1972, senior vice president in 1973 and executive vice president in 1976.
He was sent to London in 1978, where he served two years as executive vice president and a director of Esso Europe, the regional affiliate for Europe and Africa.
He returned to New York as a senior vice president and director in 1980 and became president in 1985.
Garvin leaves after nearly 40 years with the company. He joined Exxon in 1947 at its Baton Rouge, La., refinery, rising to operating superintendent 10 years later.
By 1964, he had been named executive assistant to the president of Exxon and held the same post with the chairman of the board. In 1965, he was appointed president of Exxon’s U.S. chemical division and then of its international chemical division.
He was elected to the board of directors in 1968 and was named president of the corporation in 1972.
Raymond came to Exxon in 1963, serving in Venezuela and with Exxon International Co. before becoming president of Exxon’s affiliate in Aruba, then president of Exxon Nuclear Co.
In 1981, he became president of Exxon Enterprises, Exxon’s diversification investment company, and in 1983 was named president of Esso Inter-America, a former regional headquarters in charge of oil and gas operations in the Caribbean, Central and South America.
