Ed. Note: Lee R. Raymond died last week at age 87. The top integrated oil leader of his era is featured in three posts this week at MasterResource. Past posts on Raymond can be found here.
“[Lee Raymond] is a leader among leaders. He’s always encouraged and considered a range of views and opinions on a multitude of issues … including climate change.” – Jamie Dimon, CEO, JPMorgan.
If the bottom line of business is winning for consumers and stockholders, few have matched the accomplishments of Lee Raymond (1938–2026), whose 42 years at Exxon/Exxon-Mobil culminated as CEO from 1993 through 2005. His is a classic case of creating sustainable economic value through talent, focus, and perseverance. Forget what those with termite aspirations toward fossil fuels think. Voluntary means and human betterment cinch the case.
During his 13-year leadership, profits increased from $4.3 to $36.1 billion, with Exxon-Mobil’s market value increasing fourfold to $375 billion.
Compare Raymond with BP’s John Browne and Enron’s Ken Lay, energy company leaders who tried to create value through political correctness and rent-seeking. And go from history to theory with books such as Just Business by Elaine Sternberg and The Heroic Enterprise by John Hood. Check out Charles Koch’s Good Profit also.
Begin with the business overview of the Exxon/Exxon-Mobil era. Bradley Olson stated in the Wall Street Journal (June 12, 2026):
A top executive at Exxon for more than two decades, Raymond transformed the company from a conglomerate involved in selling everything from nuclear fuels and office products back into a fine-tuned petroleum machine that consistently delivered best-in-class profits by producing oil and all its byproducts through the peaks and valleys of gyrating global crude prices.
Crude oil was Exxon-Mobil’s business, Raymond emphasized, eschewing fashionable investments in crony (government-dependent) industries such as wind and solar power where there was grid electricity.
Energy and Climate
“Let’s agree there’s a lot we really don’t know about how climate will change in the 21st century and beyond.”
“I don’t believe anyone should have the moral authority to deny people the opportunity to improve their way in life by arbitrarily depriving them of the means…. I hope that the governments of this region will work with us to resist policies that could strangle economic growth.”
“If we weren’t here, the climate would change. It has to do with sunspots, it has to do with the wobble of the Earth, and it has — there are all kinds of things that come and go. If you talk to a geologist, he will tell you the Earth, over its history, has been much warmer than it is now and much colder.”
Profit/Loss
“Profit is not a dirty word. And it’s absolutely required in our industry to have an adequate level of profit to be able to continue to invest.” (2005)
Business Ethics
“The main professional responsibility of a person in business is business”. [1]
Humility
“What you’re hearing today may seem boring. You’ll just have to live with outstanding, consistent financial and operating performance” (March 2005). – Quoted in James Hagerty, “Lee Raymond, Who Created Exxon Mobil, Dies at 87.” New York Times (June 10, 2026).
Authenticity
“I’ve never had a focus group to decide what my persona is out there.” (quoted in Hagerty)
Final Comment
Post-Raymond, ExxonMobil tapped its foot on the brake as it stayed on the gas. Politically correct, rent-seeking investments in algae cost several hundred million dollars. Support for a carbon tax contradicted and blurred the company’s messaging. Mistakes made, it is time for a courageous, intellectually grounded return to the company’s more principled past. The legacy of Lee Raymond lives on.
Appendix: Obituary (Dallas Morning News, June 6, 2026)
Lee R. Raymond, who served as Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil Corporation from 1993 to 2005, died June 6, 2026 from complications of pneumonia.
Mr. Raymond was born in Watertown, South Dakota in 1938. He was a chemical engineer by training, completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin and his PhD at the University of Minnesota. He joined Exxon in 1963 as a production research engineer. In 1987 he became President and in 1993 Chairman and CEO. He retired from ExxonMobil in 2005, six years after completing the merger of Exxon and Mobil Oil in one of the largest – and most successful – industrial mergers in history.
Mr. Raymond served on the Board of Directors of JPMorgan Chase (or its predecessor) since 1987 and served as the lead independent director for a number of years until his retirement in 2020. Mr. Raymond also served on the Board of Trustees of Mayo Clinic. He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Business Roundtable and the National Academy of Engineering. He served as the President of the American Petroleum Institute twice, and as the Chairman of the National Petroleum Council. He was a Trustee of the American Enterprise Institute.
Mr. Raymond believed in hard work and meritocracy, was relentlessly positive and demanded excellence in everything he did. He marveled at how far he had come since working on his grandfather’s farm as a youth. He is survived by his wife Charlene, his triplet sons, three daughters-in-law and seven grandchildren.