Coldplay may have answered EMI's rumored hopes
Elizabeth Taylor and Kathy Ireland walk away from jewelry company
More controls not the answer for China
KKR still has IPO envy?
Liquidnet looks for IPO liquidity
Energy Recovery: a cleantech deal hits the IPO market
Booze a defensive play in a bear market
Dollar rises vs euro after ECB's Trichet signals one rate hike may be enough
Who will make the next generation of thinner TVs: Samsung, Sony, Panasonic or Toshiba?_thumbnail.gif){kind=logo}
Analyst downgrades: NVDA, AFLYY and UNH
Sprint Nextel finally in the midst of a turnaround?
U.S. weekly jobless claims pass 400k, signaling further economic slowing
Blockbuster could come back for Circuit City?
Yahoo! (YHOO) looks for another partner
Before the bell: AMR, GOOG, AAPL
Lehman issuing stock to employees smells of desperation
Don't bite the hand that feeds you. John D. Rockefeller founded the company that eventually became Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and now his family wants changes in governance at the firm. They would do best to keep their opinions to themselves.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the family's proposals "include urging the company to create an independent chairman post, cut greenhouse-gas emissions and examine whether Exxon should take a more active role in developing sustainable energy technologies."
Most of the proposals are useless. It is unlikely that having a separate chairman at a large, successful firm such as Exxon would have any practical purpose. Developing new forms of alternative energy is essentially the job of smaller companies that will eventually compete with Exxon for business.
Over the last five years, Exxon shares have gone from under $36 to more than $90. The company also pays a dividend yield of 1.5%. The Rockefellers have done unusually well. The should stay out of Exxon's hair and go back to being rich.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 Letter.
