- Shell Plc SHEL is looking for a new CEO, as Chief Executive Ben van Beurden is preparing to step down next year after nearly a decade, two company sources told Reuters.
- The board has shortlisted four candidates.
- During his tenure, van Beurden oversaw Shell’s most significant acquisition in decades and steered the company through two major downturns and a pivotal move to slash greenhouse emissions.
- Related: Exxon, Shell Seek To Offload California Oil & Gas Joint Venture: Report.
- The sources said that Shell’s board succession committee had met several times to draw up plans for van Beurden’s departure and interview potential successors.
- The shortlist has been narrowed down to Wael Sawan, Shell’s head of integrated gas & renewables, and Huibert Vigeveno, who heads the company’s downstream refining operations.
- According to Reuters sources, newly appointed Chief Financial Officer Sinead Gorman and Zoe Yujnovich, head of upstream, are also possible successors.
- Beurden joined Shell in 1983 and became CEO in January 2014.
- Price Action: SHEL shares are up 2.04% at $53.47 during the premarket session on the last check Friday.
- Photo via Wikimedia Commons