Exxon’s ‘Crazy’ Spending Rang Alarm About Future for CalSTRS (1)

The future viability of Exxon Mobil Corp. was a concern to the California State Teachers’ Retirement System because of what it viewed as profligate spending as the oil explorer spiraled into its first annual loss in at least four decades.

The second-largest U.S.-state pension fund was an early and major backer of activist investor Engine No. 1’s push for Exxon board seats at the Western world’s biggest oil company. That effort achieved partial success on Wednesday when shareholders elected at least two insurgent nominees.

“They have been throwing money down the drill hole like crazy,” said Christopher Ailman, chief ...