Joseph “jay” Hooley
Lead Director at ExxonMobil & Director at Liberty Mutual
Jay Hooley is the Lead Director at ExxonMobil and Director at Liberty Mutual. Through his roles at both companies, Hooley has facilitated the expansion of fossil fuels and has invested in them. ExxonMobil is responsible for 2.8% of all global CO2 emissions between 1854 and 2022 and received a score of G from Carbon Tracker for its misalignment with the Paris Agreement. Liberty Mutual has invested $2.4B of the money received from various insurance policies into fossil fuels and provides insurance coverage for the Trans Mountain Oil Pipeline. Hooley has profited greatly from his alleged climate crimes and deserves to be highlighted in our Hall of Shame.
-
Birthday: March 1, 1957
Hometown: Boston, MA
Primary residence: Harwich Port, MA
Current role: Lead Director at ExxonMobil (2022-present) where he chairs the compensation committee & Director at Liberty Mutual (2019-present)
Net worth: At least $210 million (WealthX)
Annual Compensation:
As Exxon Director: $429,637 in 2023
Hooley’s 13,000 shares in ExxonMobil’s stock are worth roughly $1.2 million
As Liberty Mutual Director: $172,117 in 2023
Education:
BS from Boston College (1979)
Board memberships, affiliations, and roles:
Director at Aptiv (2020-present), a green-tech company
Board member of the American Ireland Fund
Board director of Boys and Girls Club of Boston
Member of The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum
Member of the Boston Club’s Corporate Advisory Board
Past roles:
Chairman and CEO of State Street (1986-2019)
State Street has $123.25 million in fossil fuel investments
Top investments:
$23.68M in Berkshire Hathaway
$15.39M in ExxonMobil
$9.1M in Chevron
$4.81M in ConocoPhillips
State Street, BlackRock, and Vanguard have invested a combined $300 billion in fossil fuels
Director at Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (2011-2019)
Member of the Financial Services Forum
Director at Boston Financial Data Services (1990-2013)
CEO & President & National Financial Data Services (1988-1990)
Executive at AT&T
Member of Wall Street Journal CEO Council
Board director at the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership
Board director at the President’s Council of Massachusetts General Hospital
Trustee on the Board of Boston College
Fun facts:
Hooley is a third-generation Irish American and a member of the American Ireland Fund
-
As a Double Agent Between the Insurance & Fossil Fuel Industries
Jay Hooley’s blatant conflict of interest between the insurance and fossil fuel industry makes it hard for Liberty Mutual to claim innocence in the climate crisis. His role governing the financial interests of ExxonMobil causes major issues for his ability to help Liberty Mutual meet its gestures toward climate governance – namely, its pledge to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 global greenhouse gas emissions by 2023 by 50%.
Hooley’s industry crossover also poses issues if Liberty Mutual underwrites any of ExxonMobil’s fossil fuel projects. LittleSis insists on the importance of Liberty Mutual’s disclosure of any business with Exxon “to assure stakeholders that Hooley is not personally profiting from this business or otherwise abusing his director role at Liberty Mutual to benefit Exxon.”
As President & CEO of State Street Corporation
Hooley was the President and CEO of State Street Corporation from 1986 to 2019. During this time, State Street was one of the world’s top three asset managers and was criticized for its huge fossil fuel portfolio.
As of April 2024, State Street had $123.25 million in fossil fuel investments
Top investments:
$23.68M in Berkshire Hathaway
$15.39M in ExxonMobil
$9.1M in Chevron
$4.81M in ConocoPhillips
State Street, BlackRock, and Vanguard have invested a combined $300 billion in fossil fuels
Liberty Mutual’s Climate Crimes
Liberty Mutual is among some of the world’s leading fossil fuel insurers and has received low scores by Insure our Future for their involvement in fossil fuel underwriting and investment, receiving a total score of 0.4/10 for underwriting and 1.1/10 for investments.
Among the 30 listed insurance companies, Liberty Mutual came 26th overall for their involvement in underwriting and 22nd overall for their investments. The insurance company was listed next to AIG and Berkshire Hathaway for having the largest investments in fossil fuels in 2019 and has put $2.4 billion of the money received from various insurance policies into fossil fuels.
In June of 2023, the Senate Budget Committee asked many insurance companies, including Liberty Mutual, to disclose their fossil fuel investments.
Liberty Mutual removed their business owners’ insurance offers in California due to climate change-induced extreme weather conditions which have increased the rate of claims in the state.
Liberty Mutual has supported Texas’ Freeport Liquified Natural Gas terminal, which is a project reported to have “a very poor safety and public health record.”
Liberty Mutual has provided insurance coverage for the Trans Mountain Oil Pipeline.
Liberty Mutual is involved with Lloyd’s of London, which manages 51 “syndicates insuring the oil and gas companies in the North Sea.”
Ties to the fossil fuel industry are present in the company’s board of directors, where 9 out of 13 board members have close ties to extractive industries. Some of these members include:
Annette Verschuren, director of Canadian Natural Resources Limited
Francis A. Doyle, William C. Van Faasen, and David H. Long (CEO of Liberty Mutual) are trustees at Eversource Energy
Martin Slack, board member of Koch Industries
Eric Spiegel, director of Dover Corporation
For a full exploration of ExxonMobil’s climate crimes, see Darren Woods’s profile.
-
Joseph Hooley has benefited greatly from his climate crimes. Hooley has a net worth of roughly $210 million and 13,000 shares in ExxonMobil’s stock worth roughly $1.2 million. In 2023, Hooley received $429,637 as an Exxon Director. In 2021, Hooley received $214,295 and his total compensation in 2020 was $675,311. As ExxonMobil continues to profit from its fossil fuel operations, Hooley will too.
Hooley has listed properties in Hingham, MA, Harwich Port, MA, and Naples, FL. Hooley’s lifetime giving exceeds $3 million. Top recipients include the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, Boston College, The United Way Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital, and The Camp Harbor View Foundation (WealthX).
In 2018, Hooley was featured in a Boston Magazine article titled “The 100 Most Influential People in Boston.” This was published in Hooley’s last year as Chairman and CEO of State Street Corporation. The article quotes: “It’s hard to overstate the role that Hooley has played in Boston finance and civic circles.”
Other awards and recognition:
Global Custodian’s Lifetime Achievement Award
NICSA Robert L. Gould Award
New England Council’s New Englander of the Year Award
Partnership Inc.’s Bennie Wiley CEO Diversity Award
Lewis Family Foundation CEO Social Leadership Award
Boston Municipal Research Bureau’s City Champion Award
-
Jay Hooley’s board membership of ExxonMobil and Liberty Mutual makes him a double agent between the fossil fuel and insurance industries. According to LittleSis, as a board member for Liberty Mutual, “Hooley is in charge of governing the insurance powerhouse as it navigates a future of climate chaos and climate risk.” As ExxonMobil’s Lead Director as of May 25, 2022, “he is moving up the ranks to lead that board and oversee the governance of one of Big Oil’s top multinational powerhouses.” Hooley is tasked with engaging with shareholders, setting meeting agendas, chairing executive sessions, and leading board performance evaluations. Most importantly, Hooley is “guiding a company dedicated to expanding its oil and gas production and promoting climate denialism to stall climate action.”
-
Pushback against Liberty Mutual
In 2023, activists from Boston protested outside Liberty Mutual’s headquarters following the announcement of new CEO Tim Sweeney. The activists handed out flyers asking “Which side are you on, Sweeney?” and “What is your plan?” Other activists held a protest that directed statements at Sweeny such as “pick fossil fuels or Boston.”
Liberty Mutual has continued to provide insurance for Arctic oil and gas drilling. The Gwich’in Steering Committee targeted large insurance companies, including Liberty Mutual, to “protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from the harms of fossil fuel development.”
See Darren Woods’s profile for pushback against ExxonMobil.
-
“...fossil fuels are the driving factor contributing to climate change”- Liberty Mutual, 2021 ESG Report
Connections within the Polluter Industrial Complex
-
Hooley’s Political activity:
Donated to Ed Markey (D-MA)
Donated to ExxonMobil Corporation PAC
ExxonMobil’s Political Activity:
As of May during the 2024 election cycle, the fossil fuel industry had already given $7.3 million to Trump’s campaign and related groups (compared to $186,000 for Biden). ExxonMobil gave $34,323 to Trump’s campaign in 2024, $72,440 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and $37,024 to the National Republican Congressional Committee.
According to the Global Center for Climate Justice, since the January 6 insurrection, along with other top fossil fuel companies, ExxonMobil has contributed to the “nearly $700,000 campaign and leadership PACs of the 147 Republican members of Congress who voted against certifying the election and continue to propagate the Big Lie that led to the attack.” Valero Energy, Marathon Petroleum, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, and ConocoPhillips were the other top donors.
ExxonMobil’s Political Donations:
2024 political donations (>$20k)
$72,440 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee
$39,424 to Colin Allred, D
$37,024 to the National Republican Congressional Committee
$34,323 to Donald Trump
$25,053 to Nikki Haley
2022 political donations (>$20k)
$193,920 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
$95,956 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee
$84,006 to the National Republican Congressional Committee
$42,766 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
$21,300 to the Majority Committee PAC
Liberty Mutual’s Political Donations:
2024 political donations (>$20k)
$100,000 to the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies
$23,885 to DNC Services Corp
$22,634 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
$20,715 to Joe Biden
2022 political donations (>$20k)
$410,270 to the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies
$72,779 to ActBlue Non-Federal
$43,541 to DNC Services Corp
$32,256 to the National Republican Congressional Committee
$28,085 to Maggie Hassan, D
$21,100 to Jake Auchincloss, D
2020 political donations (>$30k)
$250,563 to the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies
$197,048 to Joe Biden, D
$60,159 to Bernie Sanders, D
$39,055 to Donald Trump, R
$38,839 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
$34,285 to Pete Buttigieg
$30,694 to DNC Services Corp
-
ExxonMobil is notorious for its deceptive public relations marketing techniques that shape public perception of its products. ExxonMobil greenwashes its corporate image by embedding its company messaging in trusted sources to legitimize its narrative by association. For example, in 2022, ExxonMobil sponsored over 300 editions of Washington Post newsletters. ExxonMobil also ran advertisements through Bloomberg, The Economist, Financial Times, The New York Times, and Politico.
According to Clean Creatives’ F-List, ExxonMobil worked with Omnicom, Interpublic Group, and Edelman. In 2021, Exxon worked with Edelman on an ad campaign to oppose climate regulations. -
ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil’s website states: “ExxonMobil acknowledges the risks of climate change and has long expressed support for the goals of the Paris Agreement… Our direct lobbying activities are aligned with limiting average global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and include strong support for policies that will incentivize carbon emission reductions while providing the energy security the world needs.”
In 2023, ExxonMobil spent $6,840,000 on lobbying and used 69 lobbyists, 53 of whom were former congressional staff or members of Congress.
In 2022, Exxon reported spending between $25,000 and $50,000 on lobbying expenditures with the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), a trade association and lobbying group. In the past, WSPA has been exposed for setting up front groups to garner fake support for the oil industry.
In 2021, research into the fossil fuel lobbying ploys found ExxonMobil, Chevron, and the American Petroleum Institute to be the “world’s most obstructive” organizations. Ed Collins, a director at InfluenceMap, told the Guardian: “The corporate playbook for holding back climate policy has come a long way from science denialism but it is every bit as damaging… What we are seeing is not limited to efforts to undermine regulations directly. It also involves prolific and highly sophisticated narrative capture techniques, leading governments down incredibly dangerous paths.”
In 2021, Greenpeace UK secretly recorded one of Exxon’s lobbyists describing the American Petroleum Institute as the “whipping boy” of the energy industry. In Greenpeace’s interview with Exxon’s Keith McCoy and Dan Easley, McCoy was recorded saying that Exxon was “playing defense” against Biden’s proposed American Jobs Plan. McCoy, who referenced being close to several pro-fossil fuel senators, also said that Exxon’s endorsement of the carbon tax through the Climate Leadership Council was an “advocacy tool” and a “great talking point.” Perhaps most damning, McCoy admitted to Greenpeace that Exxon has given money to “shadow groups” who lobby for climate denialism. Following the interview’s publication, McCoy was fired by Exxon.
ExxonMobil’s Climate Policy Engagement
InfluenceMap score: D
Organization score: 46%
Relationship score: 46%
Lobbying by Liberty Mutual
2023
Total: $3.89M
Liberty Mutual Insurance
Courtney Coutreyer, Andrew Huff, Viji Rangaswami, Christopher Russell and Julie L Trute
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLP: $440,000
Blue Ridge Law & Policy: $320,000
Crossroads Strategies: $320,000
Wally Burnett
Jason Gleason
Mathew Lapinski
Ben Lee McMakin
Chris J Miller
Hunter Moorhead
Ivelisse Porroa-Garcia
Todd M Weiss
Exigent Government Relations: $160,000
Lobbyist: Jonathan Bergner
Public Strategies Washington: $320,000
US Policy Strategies: $300,000
-
Davis Polk advised ExxonMobil on its acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources in 2023. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher advised Pioneer Natural Resources on the $64.5 billion merger. Gibson Dunn is also arguing Exxon’s lawsuit against activist shareholders. Gibson Dunn was given an F on Law Students for Climate Accountability’s 2023 Climate Accountability Scorecard.
In 2020, law students led a campaign urging Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP to #DropExxon. Students from Harvard and Yale protested Paul, Weiss for its defense of ExxonMobil in a case about misleading investors about the costs of climate change. Paul, Weiss represented Exxon in San Francisco, Oakland, Baltimore, and Massachusetts in cases where these localities sought damages for climate change impacts caused by fossil fuel companies.
The “Litigation” section of ExxonMobil’s 2023 Annual Report states: “State and local governments and other entities in various jurisdictions across the United States and its territories have filed a number of legal proceedings against several oil and gas companies, including ExxonMobil, requesting unprecedented legal and equitable relief for various alleged injuries purportedly connected to climate change. These lawsuits assert a variety of novel, untested claims under statutory and common law. Additional such lawsuits may be filed. We believe the legal and factual theories set forth in these proceedings are meritless and represent an inappropriate attempt to use the court system to usurp the proper role of policymakers in addressing the societal challenges of climate change.”
In early 2024, ExxonMobil announced it was suing two of its activist investors, Arjuna Capital and Follow This, who supported a proposal for Exxon to accelerate its carbon reduction plan and expand the scope of its measured emissions to include suppliers and customers. Exxon claimed this proposal was designed to diminish the company’s existing business and micromanage its operations. The proposal was dropped, but Exxon pushed forward with its lawsuit. This persistence reveals a desire to prevent investors from speaking out against the corporation in the future and is an aggressive escalation of tactics in the fight against investors who are trying to push fossil fuel companies away from their business model focused on short-term profits. Attorneys from Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher are arguing the case (Ted Boutrous, another 2024 Climate Criminal, works at this firm). -
ExxonMobil has been tied to multiple think tanks involved in climate denial. Between 1998 and 2014, Exxon spent over $30 million funding think tanks and policy institutes spreading climate denialism including the Heartland Institute, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, and other climate denial think tanks. According to the Global Center for Climate Justice, this helped make “the conservative climate change denial machine one of the most well-funded propaganda campaigns in history.”
ExxonMobil has also been called out for its donations to centrist think tanks. For example, since 2021, Exxon has donated $600,000 to Brookings and nearly $2.1 million to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). This raises alarm bells for conflict of interest, but Brookings and CSIS have said that Exxon’s financial support does not influence their climate and energy research. -
ExxonMobil provides funding for lobbying expenditures for grassroots, local, state, and federal organizations. In 2022, the top recipient was the American Petroleum Institute, which received between $7.5 and $9.99 million. The American Chemistry Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce each received between $1 and $2.49 million. The full list of ExxonMobil’s lobbying expenditures is listed here.
In January 2024, ExxonMobil withdrew from the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), a “trade group known for aggressively opposing government attempts to rein in the oil industry.” Exxon cited disagreement over climate policy as the reason for ending its membership with IPAA. While it is notable that Exxon left IPAA, it remains tied to other groups affiliated with IPAA, showing that Exxon is still complicit in opposing climate action.
-
Jay Hooley graduated from Boston College in 1979 and was elected board vice chairman in 2017. Hooley has donated to Boston College several times between 2001-2016, usually opting to donate an “undisclosed amount (WealthX).”
Other Donations (WealthX)
Over $20,000 to the Catholic Schools Foundation in 2013
$50,000 to the Thayer Academy Charitable Trust, a college-preparatory school in Massachusetts, in 2014
Over $20,000 to the Trustees of Thayer Academy from 2011-2013
An undisclosed amount to the Jesuit Community at Boston College High School
-
Jay Hooley is a board member of the insurance company Liberty Mutual. State Farm has also been directly invested in ExxonMobil in the past. In 2015, State Farm held 37 million shares of Exxon stock, making ExxonMobil State Farm’s third-largest investment.