Australian green hydrogen company Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) will appoint Former President and CEO of General Electric (GE) Europe Dr Mark Hutchinson as CEO of the company by the end of 2022, initially hiring him as director of projects in early July 2022.
Hutchinson will come to FFI after working with the GE group for 24 years. "We must urgently reduce emissions now and at scale. No longer should the world be dependent on heavily polluting fossil fuels," said Hutchinson and added that delivering FFI's global portfolio of green projects will be his primary focus at FFI.
The current CEO of FFI, Julie Shuttleworth will continue in her role during the transition process, finally moving to a senior executive leadership role in the company.
Additionally, billionaire Andrew Forrest's company said it will get former CEO of AGL Energy Andrew Vesey as head of Energy Transition Projects. The company's current Director of Projects Gordon Cowe will become the head of Projects Development.
The company will also appoint Li Yifei as a board director in 2022. She currently serves on the board of BlackRock China and a global trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation.
Forrest himself will take on the role of executive chairman of Fortescue Group overseeing the iron ore business, while the current CEO of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) will conclude her tenure in August 2022 and become global brand ambassador for FFI.
These appointments are part of FFI's efforts to build a strong team for itself as this follows its appointment of Reserve Bank of Australia Deputy Governor Dr Guy Debelle as its CFO in March 2022 (see FFI Announces Dr Guy Debelle As CFO).