Murilo Pinto de Oliveira Ferreira: Industry Veteran

When government owns a substantial part of a company you can bet it will raise a lot of noise publicly when the company is not doing well. Government is basically run by politicians. They may genuinely be concerned but they also get political mileage. They will want changes in top management.

The problem here is if the one who will get appointed is the favorite of some powerful politician and may not be the right person for the job. Fortunately for Vale SA, which is considered the second largest mining company in the world, the choice in 2011 was an industry veteran.

The one chosen to lead the mining giant was Murilo Pinto de Oliveira Ferreira, he was appointed as CEO of Vale in the early part of 2011. Prior to his appoint the Brazilian government which has direct and indirect stakes in Vale had frequently criticized the company in recent years for not spending more on domestic steel and fertilizer output to generate jobs.

His appointment eased concerned about a less qualified person holding the CEO post. Ferreira is an over 30 year industry veteran. He started his professional career at Vale in 1977 as a financial and economic analyst. He would later perform important roles such as CEO of Vale Inco, which currently integrates Vale’s operations in Canada.

They chose the right man at the right time calming market concerns.

Sam Walsh: Rio Tinto Big Boss

One of the largest mining companies in the world, Rio Tinto appointed Sam Walsh as CEO in January 2013. Walsh has a new challenging position to say the least. He replaced the former CEO Tom Albanese after Rio Tinto had write-downs of $22 billion in two years.

Walsh did not start out in the mining sector. Before joining the company he spent twenty years in the automotive industry at General Motors and Nissan Australia. An Australian citizen, Walsh went to Brighton Grammar School in Melbourne.  He earned a Bachelor of Commerce from Melbourne University. Walsh also completed a Fellowship Program at Kettering University in Michigan, USA.

At Rio Tinto Walsh has held a number of senior positions.  He was chief executive of the Aluminum group from 2001 to 2004.  During 2004 to 2009 he oversaw the rapid expansion of the Iron Ore group. Walsh led the successful mining operations and expansions in Pilbara, Western Australia. Under his leadership the productive Pilbara iron ore business developed to account for over 80 percent of Rio Tinto’s net earnings.

Rio Tinto and its shareholders are hoping Walsh can spread his profit making talents to the rest of the company.

Leading A Mining Giant

Tom Albanese is the chief executive officer and board member of Rio Tinto one of the largest mining firms in the world. Albanese was born in New Jersey on September 9, 1957.  He equipped himself well academically for the job earning a bachelor’s degree in mineral economics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Later Albanese got a master’s degree in mining engineering from the same university.

As it often happens the path to the top is not programmed. Early on Albanese did not imagine himself heading Rio because he worked for another company called Nerco.  In 1993, Nerco was acquired by Rio and Albanese was on his way to getting the top job.

He held various management positions and was appointed chief executive of the Industrial Minerals group in 2000. Albanese was then named chief executive of the Copper group and head of Exploration in 2004. 

Outside of Rio he has been a director of Ivanhoe Mines Limited from 2006 to 2007, director of Palabora Mining Company from 2004 to 2006. On the academe Albanese since 2009 has been member of board of visitors, Duke University, Fuqua School of Business.

The company that Albanese heads has a unique structure. There is Rio Tinto plc, a London listed public company based in the U.K. and Rio Tinto Limited, which trades on the Australian Stock Exchange and has headquarters in Melbourne. These two companies are called the Rio Tinto Group, joined in a dual listed companies (DLC) structure as a single economic entity. Rio has five principal product groups – Aluminum, Copper, Diamonds & Minerals, Energy and Iron Ore; with two support groups: Technology and Exploration.

Due to its size a whole country’s economic situation can have a huge impact on the company.  Take for example the case of China. Rio and Albanese watch closely the economic growth of this country as it has a significant impact on its bottom line. Last year with the cut in the forecast for Chinese growth Rio had to also cut its on sales and profitability forecast.  Albanese had to also make the tough calls to cut costs including jobs.  He also refused to receive a bonus when the company did not do well.