North Texas is the home to nearly 5% of all Fortune 500 companies, but Irving-based ExxonMobil will no longer be one of them once the oil and gas titan departs for Houston later this year.
Dallas-Fort Worth has become a hot spot for Fortune 500 headquarters, with the North Texas metroplex amassing 24 of the largest U.S. companies by revenue for the 2022 fiscal year, according to the 2023 Fortune 500 list.
However, once ExxonMobil relocates to its new campus outside Houston in mid-year 2023, the metroplex will lose Fortune’s No.3 ranked company by revenue and profit.
“We greatly value our long history in Irving and appreciate the strong ties we have developed in the North Texas community,” ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said in a 2022 news release announcing the move to Houston.
ExxonMobil is relocating from its 290-acre headquarters in Irving to a new 385-acre campus in Spring, Texas. The oil and gas giant said it is making the move in order to save billions in structural costs by combining its chemical and downstream business and centralizing technology and engineering services.
“Closer collaboration and the new streamlines business model will enable the company to grow shareholder value and position Exxon Mobil for success through the energy transition,” said Woods in the 2022 release.
Although ExxonMobil has called its Irving campus home since 1989, the natural gas company says it will “better support customers, enhance performance and grow value” by moving to Houston, known as “The Energy Capital of the World.”
With more than 4,700 energy-related firms and a third of the nation’s jobs in oil and gas extraction, the region remains at the forefront of foreign investment in energy, claims the Greater Houston Partnership, the largest chamber of commerce in the Houston area.
“ExxonMobil is a key participant in our Houston Energy Transition Initiative, and we look forward to working with the company as we continue to position Houston to lead the energy transition to a low-carbon future,” said Greater Houston Partnership President and CEO Bob Harvey in the 2022 press release.
“In addition, ExxonMobil’s announcement represents the third Fortune 500 headquarters announcement in greater Houston in 13 months, solidifying our position as the number 3 Fortune 500 headquarters city in the nation,” Harvey said.
Houston mayor Sylvester Turner praised the move when it was announced in 2022, calling the decision to relocate from Irving to Houston beneficial and one that “further supports Houston as the center of the energy transition.”
While DFW is currently the headquarters of 4.8% of all U.S. companies on Fortune’s 2023 list, once ExxonMobil relocates to its new corporate campus, the natural gas titan will be dropped from the list of Fortune 500 companies located in DFW.
The complete Forbes list can be seen here.
