--- title: Rex Tillerson Net Worth Got a Boost from Time in Office description: Rex Tillerson has departed as Secretary of State, but he gets to keep the multi-million tax break he received when he left ExxonMobil canonical: https://time.com/5197763/rex-tillerson-net-worth-tax-break/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-13T17:53:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:38:12.787Z article:section: Politics og:title: Rex Tillerson Can Keep Tax Break After Leaving Secretary of State Job After a Year og:description: He was able to sell a $54 million stake in ExxonMobil without paying any capital gains tax og:url: https://time.com/5197763/rex-tillerson-net-worth-tax-break/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6669f6329f1fa12e/69892aa98fd2ee40b135affc/rex-tillerson-net-worth-taxes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: rex tillerson net worth taxes og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rex Tillerson Can Keep Tax Break After Leaving Secretary of State Job After a Year twitter:description: He was able to sell a $54 million stake in ExxonMobil without paying any capital gains tax twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6669f6329f1fa12e/69892aa98fd2ee40b135affc/rex-tillerson-net-worth-taxes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rex Tillerson Can Keep Tax Break After Leaving Secretary of State Job After a Year > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=aa915d83-d951-4d23-915f-807cfa91b44c&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 13, 2018 5:53 PM UTC  US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson holds a joint press conference with Nigeria's Foreign Minister in Abuja, on March 12 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson holds a joint press conference with Nigeria's Foreign Minister in Abuja, on March 12 Jonathan Ernst—FP/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 13, 2018 5:53 PM UTC Rex Tillerson has departed as Secretary of State after a year, but he gets to keep one giant perk: a multimillion tax break he received when he left his job as CEO of ExxonMobil to join the Trump Administration. The tax break — more accurately a tax deferral — came as Tillerson sold his stake in ExxonMobil to avoid a conflict of interest when entering the Administration and likely worked as a significant boost to his net worth, [estimated](http://time.com/money/5197443/rex-tillerson-fired-secretary-of-state-donald-trump-exxon-mobil/) at $330 million by Forbes. The move allowed him to take advantage of a provision of the federal tax code that permits incoming public officials to sell an asset that poses a potential conflict of interest without paying capital gains tax if the money is invested in a one of a few select places like a diversified mutual fund or a Treasury bond. That investment is only taxable if and when it’s sold. This means that last January Tillerson was able to sell the $54 million stake in ExxonMobil that he owned fully without paying any capital gains tax. The $180 million payout he was set to in deferred compensation is a little more complicated. That compensation, which was originally intended to be paid in ExxonMobil stock, was moved into a trust that will vest over time. The move allowed Tillerson to avoid paying an [estimated $71 million](http://fortune.com/2017/01/06/rex-tillerson-exxon-taxes-trump/) in capital gains tax up front, though he will still need to pay taxes as he gains access over time. And thanks to Trump’s tax reform the total he will end up paying on that sum will likely be lower than it would have been a year ago. Beyond the tax break, Tillerson’s deal when he entered office wound up helping the former CEO avoid ExxonMobil’s [lagging stock](https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-diplomats-golden-parachute-1520957860). Shares in the oil and gas giant are current trading at $95, a small decline from around $100 a year ago. But the larger market — which Tillerson likely invested in — has grown significantly with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up nearly 20% in the past year. There’s at least one big drawback to the deal Tillerson struck with ExxonMobil: he can’t work in the oil and gas industry without losing some of his $170 million payout. With his government career cut short and the energy industry off limits, Tillerson may need to try something entirely new if he decides not to retire. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5197763/rex-tillerson-net-worth-tax-break/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5197763/rex-tillerson-net-worth-tax-break/"},"headline":"Rex Tillerson Can Keep Tax Break After Leaving Secretary of State Job After a Year","datePublished":"2018-03-13T17:53:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:38:12.787Z","description":"Rex Tillerson has departed as Secretary of State, but he gets to keep the multi-million tax break he received when he left ExxonMobil","url":"https://time.com/5197763/rex-tillerson-net-worth-tax-break/","keywords":["State Department","onetime","Rex Tillerson"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6669f6329f1fa12e/69892aa98fd2ee40b135affc/rex-tillerson-net-worth-taxes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6669f6329f1fa12e/69892aa98fd2ee40b135affc/rex-tillerson-net-worth-taxes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"rex tillerson net worth taxes","caption":"rex tillerson net worth taxes","creditText":"Jonathan Ernst—FP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/state-department/","name":"State Department"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5197763/rex-tillerson-net-worth-tax-break/","name":"Rex Tillerson Can Keep Tax Break After Leaving Secretary of State Job After a Year"}}]}] ```