ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who has helmed the energy giant for
the last decade and struck deals around the world, is expected to
be President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state,

transition officials told media on Saturday. The 64-year-old Texas native has no governing or diplomatic
experience, and has spent the entirety of his career at Exxon,
where he began as a production engineer
in 1975 after graduating from the University
of Texas at Austin with a civil engineering
degree.

The foundation for Tillerson’s knowledge of foreign diplomacy is
thought to be his extensive experience traveling across the the
world for Exxon, which has operations in more than 50 countries,
according to the
Wall Street Journal. Already, his dealmaking history has begun to draw criticism —
through his work at Exxon, Tillerson has cultivated
longstanding ties to the Russian government that date back to
the 1990s.

Tillerson has struck several major deals with the Russian
state-run corporation Rosneft and has a personal relationship
with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, who in 2013 awarded him
the country’s Order of Friendship. Tillerson’s appointment is also drawing scrutiny for the
potential for conflicts of interest; Exxon’s global operations
are extensive, and Tillerson owns company shares worth $151
million, according to securities filings reviewed by the Journal.

Those shares would become more valuable in the event that the
United States, for example, lifted sanctions against Russia,
which in turn had froze Exxon’s Arctic agreement, as
the Washington Post noted.

But Tillerson’s travel and dealmaking for Exxon is what seemingly
appeals to Trump — he has publicly praised Tillerson as a
“world-class player,” and has expressed admiration for the way
Exxon has been managed under his leadership.

“In his case, he’s much more than a business executive,” Trump
told Fox News’ Chris Wallace in an interview that will be
aired Sunday.

“To me, a big advantage is that he knows many of the players, and
he knows them well. He does massive deals in Russia. He does
massive deals — not for himself, but for the company.”

 

Not all of Tillerson’s views align perfectly with Trump’s.
Tillerson has said he believes that humans have contributed to
climate change, which Donald Trump once called a hoax created by
the Chinese “to make US manufacturing non-competitive.”

Under Tillerson’s leadership, Exxon
has committed to “reducing the risk of climate change
in the most efficient way for society.”

Tillerson is also big supporter of free trade, and has said that
“the global free market for energy provides the most
effective means of achieving U.S. energy security.” As
Bloomberg’s Liam Denning noted, Trump has said he supports
increased protectionism and tariffs, which “marks
one of the clearest divides between his populist base and
Republican orthodoxy.”

“If Tillerson plays a role, however, his public statements
suggest he would argue against the risk of a trade war,” Denning
added. 

Tillerson has also expressed his frustration with
government regulation of his company, telling The Wall Street
Journal in 2012
that  “there are a thousand ways you can be told ‘no’
in this country.” 

Trump tweeted last week that companies attempting to
outsource jobs will face “retribution,” which critics slammed as
government overreach into the private sector.

Tillerson’s name was unexpectedly floated in recent days as a top
contender for the spot, alongside retired Gen. David Petraeus and
former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential
nominee Mitt Romney. New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani took
himself out of the running on Friday.

Tillerson met with Trump for more than two hours on Saturday, the

New York Times reported. Trump’s chief strategist Steve
Bannon and his son-in-law Jared Kushner have described Tillerson
as being in a “different league” from the other contenders.