ExxonMobil Board Votes To Move Legal Home From New Jersey to Texas After 144 Years

ExxonMobil said Tuesday its board voted to shift legal incorporation from New Jersey to Texas. This ends over 140 years of ties to the Garden State. Shareholders must approve the change.

"Texas offers a business climate that encourages investment and innovation, allowing us to plan for the long term and stay competitive," Curtis Smith, head of Global Media for ExxonMobil, said in an email, according to NJ.com. "Operating more efficiently and with fewer hurdles strengthens our ability to deliver consistent, long-term value for shareholders."

Chairman and CEO Darren Woods believes Texas has created policies that help the company grow. "Aligning our legal home with our operating home, in a state that understands our business and has a stake in the company's success, is important," Woods said. The decision puts the corporation where it already does most of its work.

Woods said that moving to Texas would protect the company from frivolous shareholder lawsuits. The Lone Star State set up the Texas Business Court in 2024. New laws there make it harder to sue board members.

Operations won't change. The workforce stays put. Assets remain where they are. This shift is on paper, not in practice. About 75% of U.S. employees already work in Texas, and most recruiting, operations, and charitable work happen there.

Standard Oil of New Jersey was incorporated in 1882. That's when the connection began. It became Exxon Corp. in 1972, then moved its headquarters from New Jersey to Texas in 1989. A merger with Mobil Oil Corp. happened in 1999.

New Jersey sued the company in 2022. Chevron and other fossil-fuel companies were also named. The state claimed these corporations contributed to climate change and that billions had to be spent on cleanup after Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Ida. A judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2025, according to Fox Business.

Between 2015 and 2024, Texas attracted 314 companies to relocate their headquarters, according to the Texas Economic Development & Tourism office. Coinbase moved there. So did Chevron. SpaceX joined them too.