Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump’s pick to be lead the State Department, is severing ties with ExxonMobil in order to avoid conflicts of interest and comply with federal ethics law, the company said in a statement Tuesday night.
According to ExxonMobil, the value of 2 million company shares which Tillerson would have received over the next 10 years would be transferred to an independently-managed trust, to be donated to charity if Tillerson violates a rule prohibiting him from working in the oil or gas industry for the next 10 years.
The value of the fund would be reduced by $3 million to comply with the guidance of federal ethics regulators, the company said. Tillerson officially retired from his position at ExxonMobil on December 31 of last year.
If confirmed as secretary of State, the statement continued, Tillerson would sell the more than 600,000 shares of ExxonMobil stock he currently owns, which the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday night were worth roughly $54 million.
The Associated Press reported that the retirement package was worth $180 million.
Tillerson’s confirmation hearings are scheduled for Jan. 11 and 12, the Journal reported. Donald Trump said Tuesday afternoon that he would hold a “general news conference”–what would be his first in more than 160 days–on Jan. 11.