Rex Tillerson didn’t just work out a $500 billion dollar deal that can boost Russia's economy and power. He personally led Exxon's Russian spinoff from a handy mail drop in the Bahamas.
Rex Tillerson, the businessman nominated by Donald Trump to be the next US secretary of state, was the long-time director of a US-Russian oil firm based in the tax haven of the Bahamas, leaked documents show.
Tillerson’s position as the head of Exxon Neftegas had not been previously reported. The information was spotted in a stack of documents leaked to a German newspaper from an anonymous source. The nature and motivations of this source are not known.
The position at the head of the Bahamian-based, Russian-associated company isn’t illegal. In fact, such arrangements are typical of a multinational “corporation first” entity such as Exxon. However, this information does seem to provide additional evidence that Tillerson, like Trump, is entangled in a complex set of international companies and agreements, many of which may not be visible to the public.
Since his nomination, Tillerson’s Russia ties have become a source of bipartisan concern. In 2013, Putin awarded him the Russian Order of Friendship. Tillerson is close to Igor Sechin, the head of Russian state oil company Rosneft and the de facto second most powerful figure inside the Kremlin. A hardliner, Sechin is ex-KGB.
Putin is is ex-KGB. Sechin is ex-KGB. And Tillerson has close personal and business ties to both.