Darren Woods

Darren Woods, the chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil, took over the top job in 2017. The company has existed for more than a century, tracing its roots back to Standard Oil and “making kerosene to replace whale oil for lamps,” Woods told Fortune, and going on to power everything from airplanes to automobiles. The company entered its present-day form with the 1999 merger of Exxon and Mobil—still the biggest merger in oil and gas history. The largest of the so-called Big Oil majors by market cap, revenues, and net profits, Exxon Mobil last year grew further following the $60 billion acquisition of Permian Basin leader Pioneer Natural Resources. Woods worked his way up through the ranks of the oil giant, first serving as a planning analyst in 1992, and later as vice president and senior vice president.