Andrew Mackenzie to retire earlier than expected after CEO transition

Andrew Mackenzie will retire from BHP three months earlier than first announced, after handing the CEO job to Mike Henry.

BHP chairman Ken Mackenzie, CEO-elect Mike Henry and outgoing CEO Andrew Mackenzie. Picture: Aaron Francis

Outgoing BHP boss Andrew Mackenzie has pulled forward his departure date from the mining giant, saying the transition to the leadership of Mike Henry is “ahead of schedule” and he will now leave the company at the end of March.

Mr Mackenzie had previously flagged a June 30 departure date, after handing over to Mr Henry on January 1, but the company said on Monday the board, and both outgoing and incoming chief executives believed the transition to new leadership is “proceeding well and ahead of schedule”.

He will not be paid out for the remaining period, according to BHP, which said Mr Mackenzie will not receive a severance payment, nor payment in lieu of notice.

Mr Henry has spent much of the 40 days since his November 14 appointment as the new BHP boss on the road, touring the company’s far-flung global operations, and is expected to move quickly to announce the outline of a new executive leadership team when he formally takes office in January.

Mr Henry, who has run BHP’s Australian operations since 2016, is already considering how best to replace chief transformation officer Jonathan Price and chief technology officer Diane Jurgens, both of whom have already announced plans to leave the mining giant.

Mr Price’s 200-strong transformation team will be merged into the assets in which they are currently working, and he will leave BHP when that process is complete in the first half of 2020 and return to the UK, with Ms Jurgens set to depart early in the New Year.

Both served on Mr Mackenzie’s executive leadership team but the two roles may be merged into one, given Mr Henry has flagged a focus on BHP’s assets under his leadership.

Mr Henry will deliver BHP’s December quarter production results on January 21, and its half-year financial results on February 18 - seen as the most likely date for any announcements around BHP’s future strategy, although personnel changes could be announced well ahead of that.

Likely winners from any reshuffle of the executive leadership team include technology vice president Ragg Udd, currently acting in Ms Jurgen’s role, and iron ore boss Edgar Basto, who has temporarily stepped up to Mr Henry’s former position running BHP’s Australian operations.

BHP shares closed down 50c to $39.22 on Monday on a bearish day for resource stocks.