Sam Walsh (businessman)

Sam Walsh
Born
Sam Maurice Cossart Walsh

(1949-12-27) 27 December 1949
Middle Brighton, Victoria, Australia
EducationBrighton Grammar School
Alma materTaylor's College, Melbourne University
Kettering University
OccupationsFormer CEO, Rio Tinto Group
Spouse(s)Leanne Walsh, née Roki
Parent(s)Maurice John Walsh
Winifred Margaret Lois Cossart

Sam Walsh AO (born 27 December 1949) is an Australian businessman who has been a non-executive director of Mitsui & Co since June 2017. He was chief executive officer (CEO) of London-based mining company Rio Tinto Group, from 2013 to 2016.[1][2]

Prior to becoming CEO of Rio Tinto, Walsh was Rio Tinto chief of the Iron Ore group, and of Rio Tinto Australia. Based in the Australian city of Perth, he oversaw company's mining operations and expansions in Pilbara, Western Australia.[3]

Early life

Sam Walsh was born in 1949 and grew up in the Melbourne seaside suburb of Brighton. His father died when he was 15.[4]

Walsh attended Brighton Grammar School and Taylor's College in Melbourne.[5] He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from Melbourne University, and completed a Fellowship Program at Kettering University in Michigan.[6] He became a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management, Australian Institute of Company Directors, The Institute of Directors (UK), and Australian Academy of Technical Sciences and Engineering.[3]

After graduating from Melbourne University, Walsh began his career as a trainee buyer at General Motors.[4] During the next 20 years in the automotive industry, he was promoted to and held senior positions at General Motors and at Nissan Australia.

Mining

Walsh joined Rio Tinto in 1991. He subsequently held a number of management positions within Rio Tinto, including chief executive of the Aluminium group 2001-2004, and chief executive of the Iron Ore group 2004-2013.[3] His responsibilities covered operations and projects in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Guinea and India, as well as Dampier Salt and Rio Tinto Marine. During 2004-2009, he oversaw the rapid expansion of the Iron Ore group. More than US$20 billion was spent on mine expansions and major infrastructure developments with net earnings exceeding US$9 billion.[7]

Meanwhile, in 2005 Walsh was appointed a director of the Western Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and he was appointed a director of Seven West Media in 2008.[6] The following year he was appointed a director of Rio Tinto.[3] In 2010, Walsh was appointed an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia.[6]

On 17 January 2013, Walsh was appointed CEO of Rio Tinto Group, London. In his first year at the helm, Walsh took the company from a US$3 billion loss to a US$3.7 billion profit.[8] According to the company annual report in March 2014, Walsh was paid US$9.1 million in 2013, up 44% from the $6.3 million he earned in 2012. The figure included salary, a cash bonus, shares and other benefits. His predecessor Tom Albanese was paid 4 million pounds ($6.7 million) in 2012.[8]

Walsh speaks at the Annual Plenary Meeting of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Initiative on March 17, 2015 in London.

On 27 March 2014, Walsh was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Commerce at the graduation ceremony of The University of Western Australia.[9]

Rio Tinto Chairman Jan du Plessis confirmed on 23 October 2014, the company had retained Walsh for the longer term and Walsh would continue as CEO of Rio Tinto beyond the end of 2015. Originally, he was given a three-year contract.[4] However, in March 2016 Walsh announced he was retiring on 1 July 2016. Du Plessis said Jean-Sebastien Jacques, whom Walsh appointed to head Rio Tinto copper and coal, would be the new CEO.[10] It was reported that Walsh would receive $1.4 million to cover the remaining nine months of his contract.[10]

Controversy

Based on Rio Tinto submission to the Senate Enquiry, Sam Walsh was the CEO of Rio Tinto when the controversial decision of presenting only one mining plan to the PKKP people was made. This led to the destruction of Juukan 1 & 2 sacred sites in May 2020. 3 other mining plans were considered. They didn't involve disturbing the sites. The choice of the mining plan was driven by access to less than 10 Million Tonnes of high grade iron ore for an incremental value of $138m. During Walsh's term as CEO the Juukan Gorge was not disturbed following his verbal instruction not to mine the Gorge.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Rio Tinto chief Albanese steps down". The Age'. Fairfax Media. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "Rio Tinto chief Sam Walsh to retire after 25 years with mining company". ABC Online. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Sam Walsh AO Chief executive, Rio Tinto". Rio Tinto. 2016. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 "Sam Walsh - the personal journey of a captain of industry, ABC 720, updated 31 July 2014". Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Rio chief dumped after $13 billion write-down, by Peter Ker, The Age, 17 January 2013" (Webpage). Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 "Executive Profile,S. M. C. Walsh AO, Chief Executive Officer of Iron Ore, Chief Executive of Australia, Executive Director and Director of Rio Tinto Plc, Rio Tinto Ltd, Bloomberg Businessweek". Retrieved 17 January 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  7. ↑ "Sam Walsh". Archived from the original (Webpage) on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  8. 1 2 "Rio Tinto's Sam Walsh scores $9m after pay increase in first year, by Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.com, updated 14 March 2014" (Webpage). Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "Rio Tinto chief awarded honorary doctorate" (Webpage). Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  10. 1 2 "'Rio Tinto chief Sam Walsh to be replaced by Jean-Sébastien Jacques, The sydney Morning Herald Business News, updated 17 March 2016" (Webpage). Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "Rio Tinto blew up Juukan Gorge rock shelters to access higher volumes of high grade ore, The Guardian, 04 July 2020". Retrieved 4 July 2020.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.