Rex Tillerson Is Still Acting Like a C.E.O.

nhboy

Ubi bene ibi patria
" ExxonMobil’s global headquarters are situated on a campus in Irving, Texas, beside a man-made lake. Employees sometimes refer to the glass-and-granite building as the “Death Star,” because of the power that its executives project. During the eleven years that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson served as ExxonMobil’s chairman and chief executive, he had an office on the top floor, in a suite that employees called the “God Pod.” When I visited a few years ago, the building’s interior design eschewed the striving gaudiness of Trump properties; it was more like a Four Seasons untroubled by guests.

When Tillerson travelled, he rarely flew commercial. The corporation’s aviation-services division maintained a fleet of Gulfstream and Bombardier corporate jets at Dallas Love Field Airport, a short drive away. Whether Tillerson was flying to Washington, Abuja, Abu Dhabi, or Jakarta, he would typically be driven in a sedan to a waiting jet. He boarded with a meticulously outlined trip schedule and briefing books. He worked and slept aboard in private comfort, undisturbed by strangers, attended by corporate flight attendants.

During his years running ExxonMobil, Tillerson rarely gave interviews. (He declined my repeated requests for one when I was working on a book about the company, “Private Empire,” which came out in 2012, although he authorized some background interviews with other ExxonMobil executives.) Tillerson’s infrequent public appearances were usually controlled and scripted. A few times a year, he turned up at a think tank or an economic club, where he read a prepared speech and then accepted a handful of audience questions. He was usually at ease and on message during these sessions, yet he rarely allowed himself to be questioned freely by professional journalists.

All this may help explain the strange judgments that Tillerson has made in the six weeks since he took over the State Department. He has managed to turn his unwillingness to engage with the press into at least as big a story as his early diplomatic efforts in Asia and Europe. Last week, during an important trip to Japan, South Korea, and China, Tillerson refused to travel on a plane large enough to carry the diplomatic press corps. Instead, he invited a single reporter, Erin McPike, from a digital news site whose chief executive is a former Republican Party communications specialist.

When McPike asked Tillerson why he wouldn’t travel with more reporters, he told her, “Primarily, it’s driven—believe it or not, you won’t believe it—we’re trying to save money. I mean, quite frankly, we’re saving a lot of money by using this aircraft, which also flies faster, allows me to be more efficient.” "

http://linkis.com/www.newyorker.com/ne/DTJHP
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
Last week, during an important trip to Japan, South Korea, and China, Tillerson refused to travel on a plane large enough to carry the diplomatic press corps. Instead, he invited a single reporter, Erin McPike, from a digital news site whose chief executive is a former Republican Party communications specialist.

When McPike asked Tillerson why he wouldn’t travel with more reporters, he told her, “Primarily, it’s driven—believe it or not, you won’t believe it—we’re trying to save money. I mean, quite frankly, we’re saving a lot of money by using this aircraft, which also flies faster, allows me to be more efficient.” "



:cds:

OH know ...
Tillson didn't take the Press Corps with him ...
To bad, the press can get its own damn seats ...


so the story starts out as a slam in the luxurious digs at the Texas Exxon-Mobil Offices ... then turns in to a dig because the Press had to get its own flights, and then ONE Reporter taken:

..... from a digital news site whose chief executive is a former Republican Party communications specialist.


:jameo:
 
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