Fund Announces Plans to Divest from Fossil Fuels

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has been working to better align its endowed assets with its mission since 2010, when the board of trustees approved a commitment of up to 10 percent of the endowment to investments consistent with the foundation's Sustainable Development program goals. Stephen Heintz, president of the Fund, announced its decision to divest from fossil fuels at a press conference in New York City on September 22, 2014, one day before world leaders convened at the UN Climate Summit. The Fund has begun a two-step process to divest from investments in fossil fuels, first focusing on limiting its exposure to coal and tar sands, with a goal to reduce these investments to less than one percent of the total portfolio by the end of 2014. The Fund is also analyzing in detail its remaining fossil fuel exposure and will develop a plan for further divestment as quickly as is prudent over the next few years. 

Read the Rockefeller Brothers Fund's Divestment Statement

Watch the video of the Divest-Invest press conference on the Democracy Now! website

Read Stephen Heintz's remarks from the Divest-Invest press conference [PDF]

Media Coverage

The New York Times: "Rockefellers, Heirs to an Oil Fortune, Will Divest Charity From Fossil Fuels" (September 21, 2014)

The Washington Post: "Big Oil’s heirs join call for action as climate summit opens" (September 21, 2014)

NPR: "Rockefeller Brothers Fund Forsakes Its Legacy" (September 22, 2014)

Bloomberg: "Rockefeller Fund Built on Oil to Abandon Fossil Fuels" (September 22, 2014)

[Video] Bloomberg TV: "How Rockefellers Plan to Spur Change in Energy Industry" September 22, 2014

[Video] MSNBC's All In with Chris Hayes: "The Rockefellers' huge climate announcement" (September 22, 2014)

USA Today: "Rockefellers dumping oil to make statement" (September 22, 2014)

The Guardian: "Heirs to Rockefeller oil fortune divest from fossil fuels over climate change" (September 22, 2014)

BBC News: "Rockefellers to switch investments to 'clean energy'" (September 22, 2014)

Al Jazeera America: "Rockefellers and others announce $50 billion divestment from fossil fuels" (September 22, 2014)

The Financial Times: "Rockefellers join anti-fossil fuel drive" (September 22, 2014)

Time Magazine: "The Rockefellers Are Pulling Their Charity Fund Out of Fossil Fuels" (September 22, 2014)

The Huffington Post: "Rockefellers Divesting From Big Oil" (September 21, 2014)

The Wall Street Journal: "Rockefeller Fund Seeks to Shed Fossil-Fuel Investments" (September 22, 2014)

[Audio] Public Radio International: "The Rockefellers call it quits on oil, divesting themselves from fossil fuel industries" (September 22, 2014)

The New Yorker: "The Rockefeller Brothers Fund Gives Up on Oil" (September 23, 2014)

[Video] Reuters Video's The Exchange: "Fueling a Movement" (September 25, 2014)