Ben
van Beurden was born
on April 23, 1958 in the Netherlands. After graduating with a Master’s degree
in Chemical Engineering from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands
he joined Royal Dutch Shell.
Ben
is considered a “lifer” at Shell having stayed with the company throughout his
career. This has given Ben the advantage of knowing the company inside out. His
career at Shell exposed him to both Upstream and Downstream activities He began working in
the Netherlands and at the Port Sudan Refinery in Sudan. He has been based in
Africa, Malaysia, the U.S. and the U.K. Ben has held a number of operational
and commercial position and a variety of positions in the Downstream.
He
was appointed Vice President, Manufacturing and Excellence, based in Houston,
Texas in 2005. In this role Ben was responsible for standards and operational
excellence and high-performance initiatives in refining and chemicals
manufacturing.
In
December 2006, Ben became Executive Vice President, Chemicals, based in London,
UK. He is credited with turning around Shell’s struggling chemicals division. From
a loss making enterprise in 2008, the Chemicals business now contributes 5
percent of net earnings. Ben also worked for 10 years in Shell’s liquefied
natural gas business, which has become a crucial driver of the group’s growth.
He
was Downstream Director and had responsibility for Europe and Turkey from
January to September 2013. Ben has been a member of the Executive Committee
since January 2013. He became
Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2014.
His
promotion came as a surprise as there were others higher in rank and listed as
front runners. His name was not on the list. Ben is not that well known
as other Shell executive outside of the company. Top management though chose
someone with solid company experience and proven track record.
Royal
Dutch Shell is one of the largest companies in the world generating revenue of
$451.2 billion in 2013.
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