Michael tipsord
Chairman of state farm
Michael Tipsord, the former CEO of State Farm (as of June 1, 2024), has facilitated State Farm’s contribution to climate change through large investments in fossil fuel companies spanning multiple years. State Farm has been called out by many environmental activism groups for their ties to fossil fuels and the US Senate Budget Committee has even sent the insurance company letters regarding its fossil fuel investments and their plan to abide by the Paris Agreement’s guidelines. Tipsord has benefited greatly from State Farm’s fossil fuel investments, earning the highest compensation made by an insurance CEO in 2022 of $24,410,601.
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Birthday: June 20, 1959
Hometown: Illinois, USA
Primary residence: Bloomington, Illinois, USA
Current role: Chairman of the board of State Farm Insurance
(He stepped down as CEO of State Farm in June 2024)
Net worth: At least $14.5 million (WealthX)
2022 Compensation: $24.4 million
Education:
B.A. in Accounting from Illinois Wesleyan University (1981)
J.D. from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (1984)
Board memberships, affiliations, and roles:
Committee Member of University of Illinois College of Law’s Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Job Creation and Economic Opportunity Committee (2019-Present)
Trustee of State Farm’s Associates Funds Trust, Mutual Fund Trust, and Variable Product Trust (2018-Present)
Lead Independent Director of Navigant Consulting Inc. (June 2018-Present)
Chairman of the Board of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (June 2016-Present)
Trustee of the Brookings Institution
Chief Operating Officer of State Farm (2011-Present)
Dean’s Advisory Board Member of the University of Illinois College of Law (2010-Present)
Member of the American Bar Association
Member of the Illinois State Bar Association
Past roles:
President and Chief Executive Officer of State Farm Insurance (2015-June 1, 2024)
Director of Hagerty Inc (2021-2023) (WealthX)
Director of Navigant Consulting Inc. (2009-2019)
Board Member of Aldel Financial Inc
Chairman-elect of the Financial Services Roundtable’s board of directors
Chief Financial Officer of State Farm (2004-2011)
Senior Vice President of State Farm (2002-2004)
Vice President and Treasurer of State Farm (2001-2002)
Assistant Treasurer of State Farm (1998-2001)
Fun facts:
In 1995, Tipsord earned the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter designation
In 1991, Tipsord earned the Chartered Life Underwriter designation
Tipsord is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
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Withdrawal of insurance coverage in California
Many insurance companies in the United States have cut ties with clients in states that have experienced increased climate risks, including State Farm. State Farm has stopped issuing new insurance policies in California due to “rapidly growing catastrophe exposure,” but it has also invested “more money in oil and gas ventures than any other insurance provider in the United States.” This means that State Farm is actively helping to cause the climate crisis and refusing to protect people from the resulting climate risks.
Fossil fuel investments
State Farm’s various funds have large investments in the fossil fuel industry. State Farm’s Balanced Fund has $132.45 million in fossil fuel investments. According to Fossil Free Funds’ Sustainability Report Card, its Balanced Fund received a D for its investments in fossil fuels and an F for its investments in deforestation. The primary companies invested in include:
$62.95 million in Air Products & Chemicals Inc
$40.87 million in Chevron
$13.6 million in ExxonMobil
$2.9 million in Constellation Energy Corp
$2.58 million in OGE Energy Corp
$2.58 million in Consolidated Edison Inc
State Farm’s Growth Farm has $509.16 million in fossil fuel investments. According to Fossil Free Funds’ Sustainability Report Card, the Growth Fund received a D for its investments in fossil fuels and an F for its investments in deforestation. The primary companies invested in include:
$227.2 million in Air Products & Chemicals Inc
$138.58 million in Chevron Corp
$27.52 million in Exxon Mobil Corp
$13.52 million in UGI Corp
$12.32 million in Consolidated Edison Inc
$12.07 million in Public Service Enterprise Group Inc
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In 2022, Tipsord received a compensation of $24,410,601, which was the highest compensation made by a CEO from the top 10 insurance companies in the nation that year.
State Farm claims to support nonprofits that focus on community development and fund educational programs.
Donations to philanthropic causes:
In November 2023, State Farm donated $500,000 to Convoy of Hope’s disaster preparedness and response efforts.
State Farm has gifted the American Red Cross $2 million in 2023
State Farm supports the Raza Development fund, which seeks to “increase opportunities for the Latino community and low-income families.”, through grants and loans.
State Farm gifted Habitat for Humanity $800,000 in 2023
Net Worth Analysis (WealthX)
Estimated value of previous salaries, investments, stocks, etc: $7.5 million
Estimated value of Tipsord’s stake in State Farm: $6.5 million
Estimated value of Tipsord’s property in Bloomington: $200,000
Estimated value of stock in Navigant Consulting: $55,000
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Michael Tipsord has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in fossil fuels through State Farm.
State Farm publishes annual “impact reports” documenting the company’s greenhouse gas emissions and plans to reduce them in the coming years. The 2022 Impact Report highlights the company’s “12-year, 50-megawatt agreement with Constellation NewEnergy, Inc. to purchase zero-emission, renewable energy equivalent to the annual electricity use of our Corporate Headquarters and other facilities in Bloomington, Illinois.” State Farm continues to fund fossil fuel companies.
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Many activist climate organizations have pushed back against State Farm, including Greenpeace and the Sierra Club. With public investments being exposed, State Farm has come under fire in the past decade for this continual support of the fossil fuel industry,
Tipsord came under fire from the Sierra Club when it was revealed that State Farm had membership with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonprofit whose “philosophies and actions have consistently opposed efforts to combat climate change.”
An article for The Guardian referred to State Farm and other US Insurance companies as “Double Agents” for withdrawing insurance from California due to wildfire risk while employing lobbyists who advocate for fossil fuel use.
The US Senate Budget Committee has targeted seven insurance agencies, including State Farm, through letters asking for transparency on their fossil fuel investments and how they plan to follow the Paris Agreement’s guidelines.
State Farm’s PR groups have been listed on Clean Creative’s F-List.
Politicians Tipsord has supported have been given low environmental scores by the League of Conservation Voters.
State Farm’s lobbyists have been listed by F Minus.
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“Together, we have reduced our GHG emissions by 46.1% since 2019, propelling us closer to our goal of reducing emissions 50% by 2030.” “Our goal is informed by the Paris Agreement, which specifies the need to reduce GHG emissions in order to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050.” -Tipsord, State Farm 2022 Impact Report
State Farm’s 2022 Impact Report has four major focus areas for their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) statement, including an area on “building environmentally sustainable and resilient futures” with the “equally important” sub-topics of “carbon emissions”, “climate change/risk”, “natural resource use”, and “sustainable investing”.
In reference to the company’s commitment to “long-term resilience of the plant and the business”, State Farm acknowledged that “ a changing climate introduces more risk and uncertainty into the lives of our policyholders, particularly regarding the frequency, severity and location of catastrophic weather events.” -State Farm's 2022 Impact Report
Connections within the Polluter Industrial Complex
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State Farm has donated to many politicians, including both former President Trump and President Biden.
State Farm’s top political donations by recent election year:
2024 donations (>10k)
$100,000 to the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies
$66,225 to Donald Trump
$22,366 to Joe Biden
$15,703 to the Republican National Committee
$13,121 to theNational Republican Congressional Committee
$12,069 to Nikki Haley
$10,100 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee
2020 donations (>30k)
$591,598 to the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies
$295,671 to Donald Trump
$253,595 to Joe Biden
$169,681 to the Republican National Committee
$67,089 to Bernie Sanders
$57,898 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee
$47,644 to the National Republican Congressional Committee
$41,976 to Kelly Loeffler
$40,142 to David Perdue
$32,750 to Lindsey Graham
Michael Tipsord’s Political Donations:
$10, 250 to William E. Brady Jr. (R), former Illinois State Representative
First donation: $250 on 1/24/2006
Most recent donation: $500 on 12/15/2017
State Farm sent $22,105 to Rodney Davis (R), former US Representative, in 2020
Tipsord sent him $7,200
First donation: $500 on 7/13/2012
“Global warming has stopped sixteen years ago.” –Davis in 2012
Most recent donation: $5,000 on 9/4/2020
League of Conservation Voters national environmental scorecard lifetime score: 11%
State Farm sent $15,402 to Adam Kinzinger (R), former US Representative, in 2020
Tipsord sent him $5,500
First donation: $1,000 on 3/02/2015
Most recent donation: $1,000 on 7/16/2021
Stance on climate change:
Kinzinger voted for the 2011 Energy Tax Prevention Act which utilized climate denial to stop the EPA from regulating GHG emissions (2017)
League of Conservation Voters national environmental scorecard lifetime score: 10%
State Farm sent $14,641 to Darin LaHood (R), former US Representative, in 2020 and $1,000 in 2024
Tipsord sent $5,500
First donation: $500 on 8/15/2015
Most recent donation: $1,000 on 6/30/2021
Stance on climate change:
Lahood is a member of the Committee of Science, Space, & Technology, helped to issue subpoenas to environmental groups and attorney generals to overlook investigations of ExxonMobil’s ties to climate denial
“Instead of pursuing real threats to America, these attorneys general are going down a path of partisan politics and attacking people who disagree with their conclusions about climate change.” –LaHood in 2017
League of Conservation Voters national environmental scorecard lifetime score: 5%
State Farm sent $169,681 to the Republican National Committee in 2020 and $15,703 in 2024
Tipsord sent $2,000 in 2008
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State Farm has worked with Weber Shandwick as its lead ad agency for almost ten years.
Weber Shandwick is the second largest PR agency in the world and has worked with many notable clients that account “for 50% of the Fortune 100.”
Along with being listed on Clean Creative’s F-List for funding fossil fuel companies such as ExxonMobil, Repsol, and Shell, Weber Shandwick has “had links with the Tobacco Industry stretching back to the late 1970s.”
State Farm is now a partner with Omnicom Media Group, which has had numerous high-profile clients including Apple, Adidas, McDonald’s, Nissan, and more.
Omnicom is listed on Clean Creative’s F-List for providing services to ExxonMobil, BP, Repsol, Shell, Chevron, TotalEnergies, and Glencore.
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Since 1998, State Farm has spent $63,842,739 on lobbying. State Farm has a lobbying firm in California, KP Public Affairs, which has direct ties to the gas developer Tenaska.
State Farm’s Lobbying in 2023
Total Lobbying Expenditures: $2,827,000
$2,200,000 to State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance
Of the 4 lobbyists from State Farm, 2 of them have previously held a position as a government regulator, congressional staff member, or congressperson.
$160,000 to Fulcrum Public Affairs
Of the 6 lobbyists from Fulcrum, 5 of them have previously held a position as a government regulator, congressional staff member, or congressperson.
All but 1 of the 6 lobbyists also represent JPMorgan Chase & Co
Conflicting Interests
Fulcrum lobbyists Andrea Mares, Miya Patel, Oscar Ramirez, and Dana Thompson lobby for Take Back the Court- which seeks to restore democracy and “halt our climate emergency.”
$160,000 to Porterfield Fetting & Sears
$147,000 to Bose Public Affairs Groups
$80,000 to Confrere Strategies
$80,000 to Mindset
Of the 7 lobbyists from Mindset, 5 of them have previously held a position as a government regulator, congressional staff member, or congressperson.
Lobbyists
Chris Brown and Zach Ostro have lobbied for Blackstone Group
Chris Brown, Lisa Peto, and Scott Shewcraft have lobbied for Barclays
Chris Brown, Lauri Ng, Lisa Peto, Charlie Schreiber, and Scott Shewcraft have lobbied for Capital Group Companies
Chris Brown and Charlie Schreiber have lobbied for Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo
Chris Brown, Kendra Isaacson, Zach Ostro, Lisa Peto, Charlie Schreiber, and Scott Shewcraft have lobbied for Nationwide Insurance
Kendra Isaacson, Lauri Ng, Zach Ostro, Lisa Peto, Charlie Schreiber, and Scott Shewcraft have lobbied for Allstate Insurance
Zach Ostro has lobbied for Shell PLC
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State Farm has an internal law department with Steve McManus as the Chief Legal Officer and Keesha-Lu Mitra as the Senior Vice President & General Counsel, where she oversees the corporate law division’s “litigation, legislative and regulatory affairs, and legal counsel provided to the organization.” State Farm’s staff counsel trial office Michael Maguire & Associates was formerly led by managing attorney Michael Maguire.
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In 2019, State Farm hosted the Annual Liability Conference as part of the Geneva Association, the “leading international think tank of the insurance industry.” Although the conference itself focused primarily on the opioid crisis, the Geneva Association has released reports about the role that insurance can play in health issues caused by climate change and has acknowledged the existence and significance of climate change.
In May 2022, State Farm appointed Ryan Streeter, a Senior Fellow and Director of Domestic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), to the State Farm James Q. Wilson Chair. This chair is funded by a $3 million gift from State Farm, and “supports a scholar dedicated to empirical research that contributes to a healthy culture and a robust system of free enterprise.”
According to Greenpeace, the AEI has a “long track record of distorting the science and solutions of climate change” and received $2,171,121 from Koch foundations between 1997 and 2017. Streeter was previously an assistant for the White House under George W. Bush and worked in the Office of Gov. Mike Pence. Streeter is currently the Executive Director of the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, which has a $42 billion endowment from “deep ties with oil and gas.”Streeter on Climate Change:
In an article titled “The Great American Freak-Out and How to Address it”, Streeter criticized the use of apocalypticism in progressive activism, “most notably climate change.”
“More people consistently value the economy over the hot-button that elites tell us are more important, such as climate change or inequality, and most Americans are satisfied with the opportunity to get ahead.”- Streeter, 2021
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Tipsord received his B.A. in accounting from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1981 and a J.D. from the University of Illinois Chicago in 1984.
Tipsord serves on the dean’s advisory board for the University of Illinois College of Law. Tipsord’s three sons also graduated from the University of Illinois.
Tipsord and his wife have donated to several higher education institutions (WealthX):
$70,000-$99,000 to Illinois Wesleyan University from 2010-2016
$20,000-$48,000 to the University of Illinois from 2012-2014
$20,000-$48,000 to the University of Illinois College of Law from 2010-205
$30,000-$72,000 to the University of Illinois Foundation from 2010-2014
Undisclosed amount to Illinois State University in 2010 and 2013
Undisclosed amount to Illinois State University Foundation in 2013
Undisclosed amount to Olivet Nazarene University in 2013