ExxonMobil elects company outsider as new senior vice president and CFO

Kathryn Mikells, a former executive with Diageo, United Airlines and Xerox, will suceed Andrew Swiger, who retires after 43 years of service.

US oil giant ExxonMobil Corporation announced changes in its top-tier executive team. Senior vice president Andrew Swiger will retire effective 1 September after more than 43 years of service. Kathryn Mikells, a former executive with Diageo, United Airlines and Xerox, will suceed him as senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective 9 August.

Mikells joins ExxonMobil from Diageo plc, where she held the position of chief financial officer since 2015 and was a member of the board of directors. In this role, she was accountable for strategy, investor relations, supply chain, procurement and finance. Previously she was chief financial officer at Xerox, ADT, Nalco and United Airlines. During her time at United Airlines, she was also vice president of investor relations and treasurer. Mikells holds an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Swiger joined Mobil in 1978 as an operations engineer in Morgan City, Louisiana, after receiving a petroleum engineering degree from the Colorado School of Mines. He held a series of upstream and corporate assignments before moving to the downstream in 1996. Having held several positions within this segment across the US, Canada, Africa, and Europe, he was named executive vice president of ExxonMobil Production Company in 2004, and became president of ExxonMobil Gas & Power Marketing in 2006. Swiger was elected senior vice president and a member of the management committee in 2009, and became principal financial officer in 2013.

ExxonMobil is one of the largest publicly traded international energy companies. The company is one of the largest refiners and marketers of petroleum products, and its chemical division is one of the largest in the world.