Richard Goyder: Westfarmers CEO

Richard Goyder was born in 1960. His parents were farmers in Western Australia and he experienced during the 1960s and 1970s how they struggled with droughts and low prices of agricultural commodity goods in the family’s Tambellup farms, 317 kilometers south-east of Perth. He decided that the life of a farmer was not something that he wanted to be. 

He enjoyed going to Perth Hale School in high school, a boarding school.  Richard went on to earn a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Western Australia and finished the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School in 1998. 

He joined Tubemakers of Australia Limited after college and worked in various commercial roles. In 1993 he moved over to Westfarmers. Richard has held a number of commercial positions in Westfarmers’ Business Development Department including General Manager. He became Managing Director of Westfarmers Dalgety Limited, which later became Wesfarmers Landmark Limited. Richard Held this position unit he was  promoted to Finance Director of Westfarmers Limited in 2002. 

In 2004 he was appointed Deputy Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer at Westfarmers Limited. He took on the post of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in July 2005. 

Two years into the job as the top executive Richard made a very bold move acquiring up-for-sale Coles for $19.3 billion. This was a big gamble as the supermarket chain was a consistent underperformer compared with Woolworths. After acquisition Richard brought in British retail heavy-hitters Ian McLeod and Archie Norman. There was a big turnaround in performance.  Since 2010, Coles has outperformed Woolworths for 22 consecutive quarters. 

Westfarmers originated as a Western Australian farmers cooperative in 1914. Today it has evolved to become one of the largest listed companies in Australia. The firm is headquartered in Western Australia. It diversified business activities include supermarkets, department stores, home improvement and office supplies, coal production and export, chemicals, energy and fertilizers, and industrial safety products. The firm is one of the largest employers in all of Australia. 

Peter Terium: RWE CEO

Peter Terium was born in Nederweert, the Netherlands in 1963. Peter wanted to be a chartered accountant so he enrolled at the Nederlands Institut voor Registeraccountants in Amsterdam and worked at the same time as an independent auditor for the Dutch Ministry of Finance. He became an audit supervisor at KPMG, Einhoven, Netherlands in 1985. 

From 1990 to 2002, Peter worked in various senior international finance positions in the packaging industry for Schmalbach-Lubeca AG, Ratigen, Germany.

In January 1, 2003, he joined the RWE Group as Head of Group Controlling at RWE AG. The following year he also became a member of the Executive Board of RWE Umwelt AG. Peter was deeply involved in the restructuring and selling of RWE Umwelt AG. 

After several more promotions with increasing responsibility on September 1, 2011, he was appointed Member of the Executive Board and Deputy CEO of the Board of RWE AG. In July 1, 2013, Peter was appointed Chief Executive Officer of RWE AG. 

RWE AG is a major German utilities company and the services of Peter is still very much wanted. While he is due to finish his term on August 31, 2016. A new contract extends his term for another five years. 

Masahiro Okafuji: Itochu President & CEO

Masahiro Okafuji was born in 1949. He followed the path of most Japanese executive working for one company their entire career which ultimately led him to the top post.  In 1974 he joined Itochu Corporation, a Japanese trading company. This was right after he graduated from Tokyo University. 

Masahiro rose through the ranks, primarily in Itochu’s textile operations. In 2002, he became an executive officer. In 2004, he moved up the corporate ladder again, becoming president of Itochu’s textile division and managing director of Itochu Corp. 

In 2006, Masahiro was appointed senior managing director. He helped to establish the businesses brand and helped the company adapt to the dynamic consumer market. He was promoted to executive vice president in 2009, a position he held until April 1, 2010, when he was promoted to CEO and president of Itochu Corporation. He was 60 when appointed to the top executive position. 

Itochu is a major trading company in Japan and the world for that matter. It doesn’t just buy and sell products it also buys and sells companies depending on what Itochu feels meets their objectives. Masahiro, 2011 devised a plan to invest up to $10 billion in 2 years. He headed the purchase of British tire fitter Kwik Fit in 2011 for £637 million. Masahiro promised that it wasn’t just a quick buying and selling of the company having committed to invest in the business to help it expand and grow. 

In 2012, Masahiro brought forth a medium-term management plan called Brand-new Deal. Under his leadership Itochu reached a record income of 300.5 billion yen. 

China is one country he is looking for much growth and profit. Masahiro has also continued initiatives to reduce the company’s reliance on natural resource businesses. This is being achieved by investing in a wider range of companies. As stated by Masahiro, until around 2005, Itochu has the same business drivers — natural resources, energy and machinery. Then the company rebalanced its portfolio shifting toward consumer-oriented non-resource businesses.

Koichiro Watanabe: Dai-ichi Life Insurance President

Koichiro Watanabe was born on April 16, 1953. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics of Tohoku University in March 1976. In April 1976  he joined Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co. Rising through the ranks he served as Managing  Executive Officer of Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co. and also became Senior Managing Executive Officer.  He became a Direct of Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited in 2001. In April 1, 2010, Koichiro was appoint President of Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited.

The company that Koichiro leads was the oldest mutual insurance company in Japan until a motion to demutualise was passed in 2009 and, on April 1, 2010, was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The firm was founded on September 15, 1902. Dai-ichi Life is the third-largest life insurer by revenue in Japan. It’s just behind Japan Post Insurance and Nippon Life. 

The firm deals in big money, it was announced that Dia-ichi in October 2014, raised $1 billion by issuing US-dollar-denominated subordinated bonds in overseas markets. 

Martin Barrington: Altria Group Chairman & CEO

Martin “Marty” Barrington was born in 1953. He holds an undergraduate degree in history and political science and received his law degree from Albany Law School. 

Marty began his legal career with the US government. He then spent 11 years in private firm practices. Marty joined Philip Morris USA in 1993. He became Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in 1998. 

Marty was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Philip Morris International (a separate public company spun-off from Altria Group in 2008). His other positions include serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Compliance and Administrative Officer of Altria Group. He served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Altria Group until May 17, 2012. 

In May 17, 2012, Marty became the Chief Executive Office and Chairman of the Board of Altria Group. Since March 1, 2015, he has also been its President. 

Many may not know be familiar with the Altria Group but must have heard about the many popular brands it carries. The Richmond, Virginia-based company has a history over 180 years old. Its companies has established some of the most popular brands in the world  such as Marlboro, Copenhagen, Skoal and Black & White. These brands lead their respective categories. 

Philip Morris USA today has around fifty percent share of the US cigarette market comprising of among others Marlboro, L&M, Parliament and Virginia Slims. US Smokeless Tobacco Company is the leading producer of moist smokeless tobacco in the world. Copenhagen and Skoal are the two leading US premium smokeless tobacco brands. 

John Middleton’s Black & Mild brands is one of the leading large machine-made cigars in the US. Nu Mark, and Altria Innovation Company, develops and markets innovative tobacco products for adult tobacco consumers. It sells MarkTen® and Green Smoke® e-vapor products. Ste. Michelle Wine Estates board wind portfolio has consistently received acclaim and high ratings from wine connoisseurs worldwide.

The Group which Marty heads also has a 27 percent economic interest in SABMiller plc. 

Ning Ye: Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties CEO

Ning Ye based on Forbes magazine is the CEO of Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties CEO. His name doesn’t ring a bell in the Western media but considering he heads a company that can register annual sales of $17.66 billion, Ning is someone of above average executive skills. 

He earned a masters degree in economics and management from Chongqing University of Architecture and is also a Registered Cost Engineer. Since he joined Wanda in 2001, Ning has been assigned in positions of General Manger of the Development Department in Dalian Wanda Commercial Development Co. and General Manager of Wanda Cinema Company. Prior to that Ning served at Shenzhen Nanyou Real Estate Company since 1998. 

He has extensive  experience with corporate operations and management market insights and industry judgement. He has served as director of AMC Entertainment Holdings since August 2012. 

Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co., Ltd, engages in the investment and development of real estate properties. The company was founded in 1988 and based in Beijing, China. 

Laurent Mignon: Natixis CEO

Laurent Mignon was born on December 28, 1963. He is a graduate of the elite French Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) business school as well as the Stanford Executive Program.  Laurent worked at Banque Indosuez for more than 10 years in a number of positions including on the trading floor to corporate banking. 

He joined Schroeders Bank in London in 1996 then the following year joined AGF as Chief Financial Officer. In 1998 he was  appointed to the Executive Committee, then became Deputy CEO in charge of Banque AGF, AGF Asset Management and AGF Immobilier in 2002. Luarent was promoted to CEO in charge of the Life and Financial Services and Credit Insurance divisions in 2003 and Chairman of the Executive Committee in 2006. Laurent was associate Manager at Oddo et Cie alongside Philippe Oddo from September 2007 to May 2009. 

Laurent was appointed Chief Executive Officer at Natixis on May 14, 2009, and became a member of BPCE’S Management Board on August 6, 2013. 

In November 2006 the asset management and investment banking operations of Natexis Banque Populaire (Banque Populaire group) and IXIS (Groupe Caisse d’Epargne) merged to form Natixis, a French corporate and investment bank. 

Over 70 percent of Natixis is owned by Groupe BPCE and the remaining stake is listed in the Paris Stock Exchange. As it stands Natixis is the corporate, investment, insurance and financial services arm of Groupe BPCE, the second-largest banking group in France. 

The firm provides customized solutions to meet the specific needs of companies, financial institutions and institutional investors. It also designs products and services tailored to the client base of Groupe BPCE’s two retail networks. Natixis has three  core businesses with complementary expertise namely: Wholesale Banking (Coverage & Advisory, Financing & Market Solutions; Investment Solutions (Asset Management, Private Banking) & Insurance; and Specialized Financial Services. 

Natixis is present mainly in three geographic zones: The Americas, Asia-Pacific, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa). 

Nobuaki Katoh: Denso President & CEO

Nobuaki Katoh earned a degree in Business and Commerce from Keio University in Tokyo in 1971. He then joined Nippondenso Co., Ltd which is now known as Denso Corporation.

He climbed the corporate ladder and was named director of Air-Conditioning Planning Division in 1996. His main responsibilities included developing business strategies to increase DENSO’s share of the air conditioning market. The strategies Nobuaki implemented worked. The company’s share of the air conditioning market increased, and DENSO maintained the global number one market share for air conditioners. Achievements like this do not go unnoticed by the top brass. 

Nobuaki was appointed director of Corporate Planning Division in 1999. In this capacity, he spearheaded the project to develop the company’s long-term policy and business strategy, utilizing his planning skills to help further globalize Denso’s business. 

He was appointed as one of the company’s executive director in June 2000.  Nobuaki was named president of Denso Europe B.V. In June 2007, he was promoted to senior executive director and returned to Japan. In June 2008 he was appointed president and CEO. 

James Lobo: NextEra Energy Chairman & CEO

James Lobo earned a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1984. James also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School graduating in 1988 and was a Baker Scholar.

He started  his career at Mercer Management Consulting in 1984 and held various positions in the company until 1988, when he was appointed Vice President. James was Vice President of consulting firm Strategic Planning Associates before he moved to General Electric Company in 1992. He was a member of corporate development and later became CEO and Chairman of GE Mexico in 1997. James was lated named CEO and President of GE Capital’s TIP/Modular Space Division. 

James moved to FPL Group in 2002. FPL Group was renamed NextEra Energy in 2010. In March 2002 he was Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Development. In June 2002, he was elevated to President of the company. In 2006, he retained his role as President and was promoted to COO.

James was elected CEO and President of NextEra in July 2012. He was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors in December 2013. 

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy company with consolidated revenues of around $17.00 billion, approximately 44,900 megawatts of generating capacity, which includes megawatts associated with non-controlling interests related to NextEra Energy Partners, LP. (NYSE: NEP), and approximately 13, 800 employees in 27 states and Canada as of year-end 2014. NextEra Energy is headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida and principal subsidiaries are Florida Power & lIght Company which serves around 4.8 million customer accounts in Florida and is one of the largest rate-regulated electric utilities in the United States, and NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with affiliated entities, is the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun. 

Through its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy generates clean, emissions-free electricity from eight commercial nuclear power units in Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Wisconsin.