Donald Trump’s pick for US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, will get a $180m (£147m) cash payout from oil giant ExxonMobil, if he gets the job.

Axar.az reports that, Mr Tillerson, who stepped down as Exxon’s chief executive at the beginning of this year, was in line to collect 2 million shares, worth around $182m, over the next decade as part of his pay package but that sparked fears of a colossal conflict of interest.

In his potential new role as America’s top diplomat, Mr Tillerson’s decisions could affect the value of those shares to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.

In order to assuage concerns that the new secretary of state could be looking out for Exxon ahead of the American people, the company agreed late on Tuesday to pay around $179m in cash, instead of shares. Federal ethics watchdogs have requested the $3m (£2.4m) reduction from Exxon’s current market value.

The payout will be placed in an independent trust which will make periodic payments to Mr Tillerson and cannot invest in Exxon.