Wael Sawan

Wael Sawan
Sawan in 2010
Born1974 (age 51–52)
Beirut, Lebanon
EducationMcGill University (MEng)
Harvard University (MBA)
TitleCEO, Shell plc
TermJanuary 2023-
PredecessorBen van Beurden
SpouseNicole Sawan
Children3 sons

Wael Sawan (Arabic: وائل صوان; born 1974) is a Lebanese-Canadian business executive, and the CEO of Shell plc[1] since January 2023.

Early life and education

Sawan was born in Beirut in 1974.[2] He grew up in Dubai, and earned a master's degree in chemical engineering from McGill University in Canada.[2] He took a career break and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.[3]

He has dual Lebanese and Canadian nationality.[4]

Career

Sawan joined Shell in 1997 as an engineer with Petroleum Development Oman .[5] He later served as Managing Director and Chairman of Qatar Shell, where he oversaw Shell's business in Qatar, including its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and Pearl Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) operations.[6] He rose to become head of Shell's integrated gas and renewables division, and succeeded Ben van Beurden as CEO on 1 January 2023.[4] In the summer of 2023 he announced that Shell will be dropping plans to cut oil production each year for the rest of the decade.[7]

Sawan received a pay packet of £7.9 million ($10.1 million) for 2023, having become chief executive at the start of 2023 on an annual salary of £1.4 million (not including other compensation).[8] In 2025, Sawan's total compensation from Shell was £13.8 million, an increase of 60% from the £8.6 million he received in 2024.[9]

Under Sawan, Shell has focused on share buybacks with a mission of narrowing the gap with US-domiciled energy majors. Shell is currently spending $3.5 billion a quarter on buybacks.[10] Buybacks have run at $3 billion or more for 14 quarters in a row.[11]

On 3 august 2026, Sawan announced a retreat from renewable energies for Shell and the sale of onshore renewable energy operations to TotalEnergies.[12]

Personal life

Sawan is married to Nicole, and they have three sons.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Chen, Yawen (3 June 2025). "Breakingviews - Shell-BP merger's key ingredient is time". Reuters. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 "Who is Shell's new chief executive Wael Sawan?". The National. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  3. ↑ Shakespeare, Ananda (16 June 2014). "Wael Sawan". MEED. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  4. 1 2 Sweney, Mark (15 September 2022). "Shell appoints Wael Sawan to replace outgoing chief Ben van Beurden". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  5. ↑ "Board of Directors – Wael Sawan". Shell Global. Retrieved 29 June 2026.
  6. ↑ "Shell Annual Report 2023 (Form 20-F)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 29 June 2026.
  7. ↑ "'Pure climate vandalism': Shell backtracks on plans to cut oil". euronews. 15 June 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  8. ↑ "Shell CEO Wael Sawan's total pay was $10 million in 2023". Reuters.com. 14 March 2024.
  9. ↑ Almeida, Lauren (12 March 2026). "Shell CEO's pay jumps 60% despite slump in profits at oil company". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 March 2026. Retrieved 23 May 2026.
  10. ↑ "Shell says it would rather buy back its own shares than bid for BP". www.ft.com. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  11. ↑ Pratley, Nils (26 June 2025). "The arithmetic is tricky for a Shell bid for BP today. Next year may be different". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  12. ↑ "Shell signs agreement to sell European onshore renewables portfolio to TotalEnergies | Shell Global". www.shell.com. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
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.