After 144 Years In New Jersey, Exxon Asks Shareholders To Back Texas Move To Cut Litigation Risks

Whether it is Chevron, Tesla, Oracle, Caterpillar, CBRE, Fisher Investments, and/or an expanding roster of other major companies, corporate America has spent the better part of the post-Covid era shifting headquarters to Texas for one simple reason: the state offers a much more business-friendly environment than left-leaning blue states.

In a proxy filing on Tuesday, Exxon Mobil asked shareholders to approve moving its legal domicile from New Jersey to Texas after more than a century in New Jersey.

The main reason executives want to move to the red state is its friendlier business climate, which offers more predictable decision-making and could also reduce exposure to frivolous lawsuits.

“The Texas Redomiciliation may reduce the risk of future frivolous litigation against the Texas Corporation and its directors and officers,” Exxon wrote in the filing.

If approved at Exxon’s May 27 shareholder meeting, the company would be governed by Texas law on issues such as bylaws, director duties, and shareholder rights. Exxon noted that most of its senior leadership and about a third of its global workforce are already based in Texas.

Exxon’s evolution from its Standard Oil days has left it incorporated in New Jersey since the 1880s, and its attempt to move is yet another example of corporate America abandoning states run by left-wing politicians pushing a failed green agenda and other destructive progressive policies in favor of red states governed by common sense.

Here’s a partial list of physical headquarters moved to Texas:

• Chevron — from San Ramon, California, to Houston, announced in August 2024.

• Tesla — from Palo Alto, California, to Austin, announced in 2021.

• Oracle — from Redwood City, California, to Austin, announced in 2020.

• Caterpillar — from Illinois to Irving, Texas, announced in 2022.

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise — from San Jose, California, to Spring, Texas, announced in 2020.

• CBRE — from Los Angeles to Dallas in 2020.

• Frontier Communications — from Connecticut to Dallas in 2023.

• Fisher Investments — from Washington to Plano in 2023.

• Professional Bull Riders (PBR) — from Colorado to Fort Worth in 2024.

• Verily Life Sciences — from California to Dallas in 2024.

The Texas governor’s office reports that Texas logged 314 headquarters relocations from 2015 to 2024, including 24 in 2024 alone.

Now, Texas is taking on Wall Street with its own exchange, the Texas Stock Exchange.