Peter Sands: Standard Chartered CEO

Peter Alexander Sands was born in the United Kingdom on January 8, 1962.  The life of Peter and his parents have been strongly influenced by what was once the British Empire. His parents, although British nationals, were both born in Asia; Peter’s father was born in Malaysia which was a British colony until 1957 and his mother was born in India which was also a former British colony.

While still a baby Peter was taken to Malaysia and spent the majority of his life away from the United Kingdom, mostly in Malaysia and Singapore. In 1984 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brasenose College at Oxford. Peter’s career began in the public sector as a trainee at Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He left to further his studies taking a Harkness Fellowship at Harvard University to earn a master’s degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government.

Peter then joined management consulting firm McKinsey in its London Office in 1988. He rose through the ranks and became a partner in 1996 and became a director in 2000.  Standard Chartered, a client of McKinsey, hired Peter as Group Finance Director in 2002. He was appointed four year later in 2006 as Group Chief Executive Officer.

Standard Chartered experienced strong growth partly under Peter’s leadership. The bank highlights the fact that more than 90 percent of its income and profit come from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. This structure enabled it to perform much better than other banks during the economic downturn including having record profits in 2009. It is reported that Peter devised the British bank rescue plan which was copied around the world.  

Peter is a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute of International Finance, the global association of financial institutions, and chairman of their Special Committee on Effective Regulation. In 2009 he was appointed by the British government to the Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance.

Standard Chartered is one of the world’s most international banks with more than 1,600 branches, offices and outlets in 70 countries.

Douglas Oberhelman: Caterpillar CEO

Douglas Oberhelman was born on February 25, 1953 in the state of Illinois. His father was a John Deere salesman and Douglas was raised in Woodstock, Illinois. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Millikin University in 1975.

He is a career Caterpillar employee joining the company right after graduation in 1975 in the Caterpillar treasury department. Over the years he has worked in or led in a wide variety of business across the firm.  In 1995 he was named vice president and chief financial officer. He was elected a group president in 2002 and oversaw Caterpillar’s engine and power systems businesses. Douglas has worked and lived in North America, South America and Asia over the course of his career at Caterpillar.

Douglas became the CEO in July 1, 2010 and chairman on November 1, 2010.  Among others he is a member of the Board of Directors of Eli Lilly and Company, chairman of the National Association of Manufacturers and vice chairman of the Business Council.

Caterpillar recorded sales and revenue of $55.6 billion in 2013. It is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of construction and mining equipment. 

Dong Wenbiao: Chinese Financial Executive

Dong Wenbiao was born in Henan province in 1957. Dong is a senior economist and earned a master’s degree in economics from Xiamen University in 1993.  He was a former teacher at Henan Financial Institute. Dong then served as the manager of the Zhengzhou branch at the Construction Bank of China. The branch was called a “miracle” in the Chinese banking system, as a result of his leadership.

Dong was Chairman and President of Haitong Securities Co. Ltd., and then joined China Minsheng Banking Corporation (CMBC) in 1996 as Vice President. He was widely praised in the Chinese media for his work and was recognized for his adherence to international commercial rules. Dong was an executive director and President of CMBC from 2000 to 2006. He led the bank through its listing as the first non-public financial institution and the first joint stock non-public bank.

He became the Chairman of the Board of Directors of CMBC in 2006. In August 2014, Dong made headlines in the financial press as he resigned from his post as Chairman of CMBC, one of China’s top private lenders and the country’s first majority privately owned bank. It was reported by Chinese media that he had set up a private investment company while holding his position at Minsheng.

After the resignation was announced it was also reported by media in August 2014 that he had launched China’s largest private investment fund. The private fund, China Minsheng Investment Co. Ltd has a registered capital of 50 billion yuan or $8.13 billion after raising funds from 59 domestic private enterprises.

Shareholders of the fund, which received State Council approval in April, are all large private firms and include Suning Commerce Group, one of China’s largest electronic appliance retailers, and Baota Petrochemical Group, a leading chemical manufacturer.  The fund will invest in photovoltaic power generation projects, steel and vessels, and will also engage in stock management and consultancy services.

There is no legal relationship between Minsheng Bank and the fund and it’s not clear why Minsheng Investment is using the Minsheng name. One thing is clear though Dong is a heavyweight in the Chinese financial world. 

Christian Clausen: Nordea CEO

Christian Clausen was born on March 6, 1955 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He holds a Master of Science in Economics from Copenhagen University.  Christian began his professional career in 1975 with a four year stint at United Credit Unions. It was also during this period when he earned his Master’s degree.

In 1979 he became the executive secretary at Henriques bank. Then from 1982 to 1987 Christian acted as a deputy at Andelsbanken. He then became the managing director at Privatborsen from 1988 to 1990 and was also managing director and chief executive at Unibors Securities from 1990 to 1996. Christian then held the position as CEO of Unibank until 2000 and acted as a member of the executive board in his final three years there.

In 2001 he left Unibank and became the executive vice president of Nordea Bank. He became the CEO in 2007. Christian has played a defining role in the expansion of the largest financial group in northern Europe. He has boosted the bank’s brand identity and has managed to keep the bank healthy while other banks in Europe experienced difficulties. 

Paal Kibsgaard: Schlumberger CEO

Paal Kibsgaard earned a petroleum engineering degree then went on complete a master’s degree from the Norwegian Institute of Technology. Paal started his career working for ExxonMobil in 1992. He began working for Schlumberger in 1997 as a reservoir engineer in Saudi Arabia.

At Schlumberger Paal held various field positions in technical sales and customer support including working as Wireline marketing manager Scandinavia. Next he was the GeoMarket manager for the Caspian region where he was based in Kazakhstan. Paal set up the structure of the Caspian Geomarket, preparing the area for oil and gas exploration and development activity.

He became president of Schlumberger Drilling and Measurements in February 2003 then became the vice president for personnel in April 2006. Paal was vice president for engineering, manufacturing and sustaining before he became the group president for reservoir characterization in May 2009. The following year in February 2010 he moved further up the corporate ladder as chief operating officer. His role as chief operating officer came to an end on August 2011 when he was named CEO of Schlumberger Limited.

Schlumberger is an oil field services company which provides technology, project management and information solutions for the oil and gas industry. Schlumberger’s stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, on the Euronext Paris, Euronext Amsterdam, London and the SIX Swiss stock exchanges.  For 2013 revenue from continuing operations reached $45.27 billion.

The firm employs around 126,000 people in over 85 countries representing more than 140 nationalities. It operates through two business segments: Schlumberger supplies a wide range of products and services from formation evaluation through directional drilling, well cementing, and stimulation, well completion and productivity to consulting, software, information management and IT infrastructure service the support core industry operational processes.

WesternGeco is the world’s largest seismic company and provides advanced acquisition and data processing services.

Founded in 1927 Paal leads a company which helps the world produce the energy it needs of which searching for new sources of supply is becoming more challenging making Schlumberger even more relevant.

Dr. Johannes Teyssen: CEO E.ON

Dr. Johannes Teyssen was born on October 9, 1959 in Hildesheim, Germany.  He earned a degree in economics and law from Universität of Göttingen studying there from 1979 to 1984. He went to Boston University in Massachusetts, USA on doctorial studies scholarship in 1984.  Dr. Teyssen obtained a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Göttingen in 1991.

He started his career at PreussentElekra AG in 1989 in Hanover, Germany.  Dr. Teyssen then moved to HASTRA AG from 1998 to 1999. He then became a Member of the Board of Management at AVACON AG in Helmstedt, Germany.  Dr. Teyssen joined E.ON Energie AG in 2001 in Munich, first as a Member of the Board of Management and from 2003-2007 as Chairman of the Board of Management.  From 2004 to 2008 he was a Member of the Board of Management of E.ON SE in Dusseldorf and eventually became the Chairman and CEO of E.ON SE on May 2010.

The company Dr. Teyssen leads is a major investor-owned energy supplier. It has over 62,000 employees throughout Russia, Europe, and North American and had €122.5 billion in sales in 2013.

Brady Dougan: Credit Suisse CEO

Brady Dougan was born on August 30, 1959 in Urbana, Illinois. Brady grew up in Murphysboro, a city of 8,000 in rural Illinois more known for producing coal than top level executives. Like many top executives education helps get one up the ladder. He earned a B.A. in Economics in 1981 from the University of Chicago. Brady went on to earn an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1982.

Brady went to work for Bankers Trust, the pioneering finance house that also launched the careers of other high-flying bankers. He then joined Credit Suisse’s American investment bank, Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) in 1990 and rapidly rose through the ranks. 

In 2005 CSFB and Credit Suisse’s businesses merged and Brady became head of the new bank’s investment banking division. He worked closely with then CEO Oswald Grübel to try and blend Credit Suisse’s Swiss and American units into one bank. Oswald retired in 2007 and Brady took his place.

In the process Brady became the first American CEO of the Swiss bank. He is known for his attention to detail, a sharp mind, and a ferocious work ethic. He has a punishing work routine starting work early and working for 18 hours a day. These traits landed him the top post. He follows up on those that have given personal deadlines to see if the tasks were completed.

When he arrived as the new CEO it was reported that the expensive cars at the headquarter parking lot kind of disappeared as his preferred vehicle is a Toyota Prius.

When the market was booming he warned that there may be negative days ahead although the magnitude was much harder. Brady is credited with leading the bank away from the subprime meltdown that UBS suffered. He moved quickly than other Swiss bank rivals to lower the bank’s risk profile.

Brady is known to shun parties that other members of Wall Street like to attend. He is known to be more of the private type and is an avid runner.

Paul Polman: Unilever CEO

Paulus Gerardus Josephus Maria Polman was born on July 11, 1956 in Enschede, Netherlands. He earned a BBA/BA in 1977 from the University of Groningen.  At the University of Cincinnati he obtained an MA in Economics and an MBA in Finance and International Marketing (both) in 1979.

At one point Paul wanted to become a priest then decided to join the business world. He was working nights for Procter & Gamble (P&G) then joined its finance department in 1979.  He began as a Cost Analyst and worked for the company for 27 years. His last promotion was as Group President Europe in 2001.

Paul then joined Nestle in 2006 as Chief Financial Officer and Head of the Americas. Then on January 1, 2009 he became CEO of Unilever. Paul is credited with turning around the company’s fortune. Since joining in 2009 Paul has overseen the company’s share prices increase by around 50 percent. As head of the world’s third-largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company he has strongly pushed the sustainability agenda. 

Li Fanrong: CNOOC CEO

Li Fanrong has been the CEO China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) since November 2011 and was appointed as President in September 2010. Li was born in 1963 and is a senior engineer. He earned a B.S. degree majoring in oil production from Jiang Han Petroleum Institute in China in 1984.  Li also earned an MBA degree from the Business School of Cardiff University in the United Kingdom July 2003.

Li has more than 27 years of experience in the oil and gas industry in China. He joined the company that he would one day lead in 1984. Li was a Petroleum Engineer in Nanhai East Oil Corporation of CNOOC from 1984 to 1989.  He then worked as Offshore Platform Supervisor in Huizhou Oil Field for ACT (AGIP-Chevron-Texaco) Operators Group, later at Production Manager in Liuhua Oil Field Joint Operation Group with Amoco Orient Company, and Assistant to President of CNOOC China Limited Shenzhen Branch and Managing Director of Lufeng 22-1 Oil Field Joint Operating Group with Statoil (Orient) Inc. from 1989 to 2001.  

Li then worked as Vice President of CNOOC China Limited Shenzhen Branch and Chief Representative of Joint Management Committee of CACT (CNOOC-AGIP-Chevron-Texaco) Operators Group from January 2002 to November 2005. He next worked as General Manager of Development and Production Department of the Company from November 2005 to February 2007.

Li continued his climb up the corporate ladder and was President of CNOOC China Limited Shenzhen Branch from February 2007 to January 2009. He became Assistant Vice President of CNOOC on January 2009 until April 2010.  Li served in various capacities until his promotion to CEO on November 2011.

CNOOC is listed on both the New York and Hong Kong stock exchanges. It is the largest offshore oil and gas producer in China. The firm is a state owned company operating directly under the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China.