Engine No. 1

Engine No. 1 was founded by Christopher James with $250 million of his own funds in December 2020. The name refers to one of the oldest fire stations in San Francisco, the city the fund is based in. and Jennifer Grancio, who co-founded BlackRock's iShares exchange traded funds business, were also members of the founding team. grew up in Harrisburg, Illinois. During the dot-com boom, he operated a coal mine in Illinois and built storage facilities for the oil and gas sector. which equated to about 0.02% of the oil company's shares. ExxonMobil also incurred a $22 billion loss that year. It said that Exxon's focus on fossil fuels threatened future returns, Reactions Exxon reacted to Engine No. 1's campaign by expanding its board and adding a director with sustainable investing experience. It also announced a plan for a carbon capture business and a new carbon capture technology venture, both believed to be a consequence of Engine No. 1's activities. According to Exxon, the company expected to spend $35 million on the proxy battle. Engine No. 1 estimated its costs to add up to $30 million. With CalPERS and the New York State Common Retirement Fund disclosing their support some time after that, the United States three biggest pension funds were backing the alternative slate. Institutional Shareholder Services, a proxy advisor, endorsed three of the four candidates on Engine No. 1's slate in May 2021. Glass Lewis supported two candidates. However, D.E. Shaw, which had also been calling for changes at the oil company, reached an agreement with Exxon in March. Exxon used the agreement to unsuccessfully pressure Engine No. 1 into abandoning its campaign. By the end of the meeting, two candidates had been elected to the board of directors, with the vote over a third one being too close to call. A week later, Exxon announced that Engine No. 1's slate had won a third seat. According to industry experts, changing ExxonMobil's strategy will be a difficult and protracted process. Medlock Investments, owned by Christopher James, is the parent company of Greenfield Louisiana, which plans to build a grain elevator in Wallace, Louisiana. While the company says that the project will be safe and provide jobs, critics argue that it will prove to be an environmental hazard and contrast it with James' image as an environmental activist. == Investment activities ==

As of June 2021, Engine No. 1 holds small stakes in John Deere and Bunge Limited. In October 2021, the firm announced that it had taken a stake in General Motors, an investment it justified in part with GM's investments into electric vehicles. ETF On June 23, 2021, Engine No. 1 launched an exchange-traded fund with $100 million in assets from institutional investors. The Engine No. 1 Transition 500 ETF (trading under the ticker VOTE) tracks the largest 500 companies in the US by market capitalization. Instead of selecting and excluding stocks based on ESG criteria, the ETF seeks to align the companies invested in with its ESG goals. The active role it will take in corporate governance is unusual for an ETF, The ETF will also use its shares to support proxy campaigns of Engine No. 1. It is open to retail investors, advisors and pension plans via Betterment's investment platform. The Transform Climate ETF (traded under NETZ) is actively managed and invests in firms active in the largest carbon-emitting industries. At the time of its launch, its three largest holdings were General Motors, John Deere, and Occidental Petroleum. TCW Group has now changed Transform Climate ETF's ticker from NETZ to PWRD. Powering AI In February 2025, Engine No. 1 partnered with Chevron to power AI data centers in the United States using US natural gas. The companies plan to co-locate power plants with data centers and deliver up to four gigawatts of electricity, enough to power up to 3.5mn homes, by 2027 ==Notes==