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Rio Tinto has named Simon Trott as chief executive following the surprise exit of Jakob Stausholm, tasking the company veteran with steering the mining group during a period of global consolidation across the industry.
The FTSE 100 company said Trott, who heads Rio’s iron ore business and was chief commercial officer before that, will take the top job on August 25.
The Australian executive, who has been at Rio for more than 25 years, will take the helm at a time when the company is working on integrating its new lithium business, and has been considering whether to pursue big deals with rival miners.
Rio and Glencore held preliminary merger talks last year but failed to strike a deal. Trott will become Rio’s fourth chief executive in a decade, after the early exits of its previous three CEOs.
He replaces Stausholm, who has led the company for almost five years and overseen its recent push into the battery metal lithium. Rio announced Stausholm’s departure in May.
Other internal candidates for the role included Bold Bataar, chief commercial officer, and Jérôme Pécresse, head of Rio’s aluminium unit.
Dominic Barton, the chair of Rio, said: “Simon and the Board are aligned that Rio Tinto’s next phase is about unlocking significant value for shareholders from our portfolio, driven by operational performance, and cost and financial discipline.”
Company veteran Trott will earn a base salary of £1.3mn, in line with Stausholm’s in 2024.
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