Richard Goyder: Leading An Australian Conglomerate

With a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Western Australia, Richard Goyder set of in the corporate world. Perhaps even he didn’t know after graduating that one day he would lead a very huge company. Aside from his undergraduate degree Richard would also complete the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School in 1998.

After working in various commercial roles at Tubemakers of Australia Limited, Richard joined Wesfarmers in 1993. He assumed the role of a number of commercial positions in Westfarmers’ Business Development Department including General Manager.

Richard was appointed Managing Director of Westfarmers Dalgety Limited, this became Westfarmers Landmark Limited, a position he retained until he was appointed as Finance Director of Westfarmers Limited in 2002. He was promoted to Deputy Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of Westfarmers Limited in 2004. The following year in July 2005 he became Managing Director and CEO.

Richard now leads a company that is one of the oldest in Australia and one of the most successfully diversified. The company began in June 1914 as the Western Farmers Cooperative and was mostly involved in the provision of services and merchandise to Western Australia’s rural community. Today the company that now does business in supermarkets, energy, chemicals, real estate, and other ventures is the largest employer in Australia with more than 200,000 employees and over 450,000 shareholders.