ExxonMobil rediscovers its swagger

FOR YEARS ExxonMobil was the top dog among the world’s private-sector oil companies. It was the biggest of the Western majors, and the best-managed. It regularly posted higher returns on capital than its peers and enjoyed superior stockmarket valuations. This led to an arrogance among its chief executives that infuriated not just greens but even other oilmen. In 2003 Lee Raymond, a former boss with a ferocious temper, bragged that “everyone at this company works for the general good—and I’m the general of that general good.”