Why regional multinational CEOs should join our boards
November 10, 2008
Peter Coates was the spectacularly successful CEO of Xstrata Coal, so it is good to see he is joining Australia's directors' club, starting off with a spot on the Santos board. As a nation, we don't tap into enough regional CEOs of multi-nationals for our boards. The most prominent examples over the years have included the following.
Peter Coates: long-time Xstrata Coal CEO who has just joined the Santos board.
Bill Cutbush: was CEO of Bell and Howell Asia Pacific and Executive Chairman of Hanimex Pty Ltd before becoming chairman of Coates Hire and a director of Blackmores on top of early directorships of Freedom Group and Millers Retail.
Brian Healey
: the Englishman ran Nicholas Kiwi in Australia and then joined the director's club before blowing his reputation at 72 by staying around far too long as chairman of Centro.
Bob Savage: the Perpetual and David Jones chairman made his name running IBM Australia.
Mark Smith: the Australasian boss of Cadbury Schweppes since 2003 joined the Toll Holdings board in 2007 but has recently departed the global drinks and confectionary group so it will be interesting to see if he tries to add any other board seats.
Frank Swan: rose to be managing director of Cadbury Schweppes in Australia and then ended up as chairman of Foster's for a few years.
Dick Warburton: spent his executive career at Du Pont, rising to run Australia and then became one of the most prolific non-executive directors we've ever seen, competing for the "most gigs" title with Nick Greiner.
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