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Oct 05, 2020

ExxonMobil picks successor to general counsel

Randall Ebner retiring after more than 40 years at the company

ExxonMobil Corporation’s board has picked Craig Morford as the company’s next vice president and general counsel.

Morford is currently deputy general counsel. He will succeed Randall Ebner, who has announced his retirement – effective November 1 – having spent more than four decades with the company.

Morford joined Irving, Texas-based ExxonMobil last year as deputy general counsel having previously worked at the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and in private industry. During his more than 20 years with the DoJ, Morford had assignments as US attorney in Michigan and Tennessee and as first assistant US attorney in Ohio. In 2007 he was appointed acting deputy attorney general by then-president George W Bush. Morford was chief legal and compliance officer for Cardinal Health between 2008 and 2019.

Ebner joined the Exxon Company’s US law department in May 1980 in New Orleans, where he worked as an attorney in the litigation group. In 1998 he became co-ordinator of the firm’s upstream litigation work in Houston and undertook what the company calls ‘several special assignments’ before becoming chief attorney of ExxonMobil Chemical Company in 2000 and chief attorney of ExxonMobil Gas & Power Marketing Company in 2003.

Ebner was appointed assistant general counsel in 2009, and then general counsel and vice president in 2016.

‘We thank Randy for more than 40 years of service to the company, most recently as our general counsel,’ ExxonMobil CEO and chair Darren Woods says in a statement. ‘Randy has made significant contributions to ExxonMobil throughout his career, and we wish him all the best in his retirement.’

Ben Maiden

Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Governance Intelligence, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance...