By James R. Hagerty
Howard Kauffmann capped his 39-year career in the oil industry
by serving as president of Exxon Corp., the world's largest oil
company, at a time of public rage over soaring oil prices.
Mr. Kauffmann died May 3 of non-Hodgkin lymphoma at home in
Atlanta. He was 93. His death came 16 days after that of his former
boss, Clifton Garvin, chief executive of Exxon from 1975 to
December 1986.
"That was the time when the wheels fell off for the global oil
companies, " said Daniel Yergin, author of "The Prize," a history
of the industry.
Major oil companies lost much of their power in the 1970s as
countries from Saudi Arabia to Venezuela nationalized oil fields.
When prices surged and Americans sometimes had to wait for hours to
get gasoline, many blamed Big Oil. Exxon was forced to defend
itself, partly by noting that it couldn't control supply or
demand.
Mr. Garvin got so many abusive calls at home that he needed an
unlisted number. When Mr. Kauffmann gave a commencement address in
1978, he said many people regarded his industry as "the source of
all recent evil."
Amid fears that the world was rapidly running out of crude, oil
companies tried to diversify.
In 1979, Exxon announced it had devised a synthesizer that would
make electric motors far more efficient. The company also purchased
Reliance Electric, a Cleveland-based maker of motors. Mr. Kauffmann
said the deal would allow rapid introduction of Exxon's
energy-saving device.
But the synthesizer was later dropped when costs proved too
high, and Exxon decided to sell Reliance in 1986. The company also
experimented with solar energy and lithium-ion batteries.
In the early 1980s, Exxon diversified into office equipment and
made such products as Qwip fax machines and Qyx typewriters. That
project also flopped, and Exxon exited those businesses in the
mid-1980s.
Other oil companies also floundered with acquisitions. Mobil
Corp. bought Montgomery Ward, a struggling catalog retailer, in the
mid-1970s but failed to revive it.
Some politicians berated oil companies for diversifying and
argued they should focus on finding more oil. Exxon invested in
shale oil projects but concluded the costs were too high. The
company eventually decided its cash flow far exceeded what it could
sensibly spend on oil exploration or acquisitions. So it began
spending billions of dollars buying back shares and raising
dividends.
Howard C Kauffmann was born on Feb. 25, 1923, in Tulsa, Okla.
"We don't really know what the middle C stands for, if anything,"
said Lane Kauffmann, one of his sons, who added that the mysterious
middle C was a family tradition. Howard Kauffmann's father, also
named Howard C Kauffmann, worked in the oil industry, and the young
Howard spent time in the oil fields during summer vacations.
At the University of Oklahoma, he received a bachelor's degree
in mechanical engineering in 1943. He then served in the Navy as an
engineering officer aboard the USS Cleveland in the Pacific during
World War II.
After the war, he joined an affiliate of Standard Oil Co. of New
Jersey, which later became Exxon and now is Exxon Mobil Corp. He
spent nearly a decade overseas as an Exxon executive in Peru,
Colombia and England, where he developed a taste for P.G. Wodehouse
novels. In 1975, he was promoted to president.
Mr. Kauffmann balanced his working life with Christian faith and
a love of sports. He joined a small prayer group for senior
executives in New York. He played tennis and once told a reporter
he was "interested in any game that has a ball in it."
Lane Kauffmann, his son, recalled that his father always came
home before dark and was ready to throw or bat balls around with
his sons. He occasionally had to take a business call at home but
generally finished his work in the office. He rose early and "was a
very efficient time manager," his son said.
Just a year younger than Mr. Garvin, the CEO, Mr. Kauffmann was
never well-positioned to reach the top job. In 1985, he received a
bonus of $1.6 million, the current equivalent of $3.5 million, for
retiring early at age 62.
Mr. Kauffmann and his wife then built a home on Skidaway Island
in Savannah, Ga. Rather than devoting himself entirely to golf and
tennis, he invested in a local firm that made custom cabinets and
helped run that business for several years. The former Exxon
president even occasionally delivered cabinets to customers.
When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, Mr.
Kauffmann, then 82, joined a group of Baptist church volunteers who
spent several days ripping moldy wallboard out of damaged
homes.
He also served on the boards of Pfizer Inc., United Technologies
Corp. and other companies and was a director of nonprofits
including the National Action Council for Minorities in
Engineering.
His survivors include his wife of 71 years, Suzanne McMurray
Kauffmann, four children, seven grandchildren and one great
grandchild.
Write to James R. Hagerty at bob.hagerty@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 13, 2016 20:52 ET (00:52 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024
Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024