Australia’s Fortescue hires a Woodside executive as CEO as part of its push into green energy.
Australia’s Fortescue Metals Group (OTC: FSUGY) named Fiona Hick, a former executive at Woodside (OTC: WOPEY) Energy, as its new CEO on Tuesday. Hick will take over in February 2023, after Elizabeth Gaines steps down as CEO in August.
Hick is joining Fortescue at a time when the iron ore giant is starting to mine critical minerals and rare earth and trying to turn its unit Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) into a green energy company.
Related: At the end of the trading day in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 is down 0.87 percent.
Hick worked at Woodside for more than 20 years. His last job there was as executive vice president of Australian operations. He was part of the team that led the company through its $40 billion merger with the petroleum arm of the global mining company BHP Group (NYSE: BHP).
She will run the mining division of Fortescue Metals. This is the end of a year-long search by Andrew Forrest, the company’s billionaire founder, and chairman.
Forrest said that Hick will help the company “move past fossil fuels.”
In the past four years, Gaines has helped one of the world’s largest iron ore miners triple its share price. He is still a non-executive director on Fortescue’s board.
Guy Debelle, who used to be the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, quit his job as the head of FFI’s finances last week. Mark Hutchinson, who used to be president of General Electric’s (NYSE: GE) European operations, will be in charge of FFI by the end of 2022.
Related: Australia’s stock market is down at the end of the day, with the S&P/ASX 200 down 1.40
(The spelling of Fiona Hick’s last name has been changed in paragraph 5 of this story.)
