Fortescue restructures green energy team as more executives depart
Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue has embarked on a major management restructure of its energy division amid a wave of executive departures.
Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue has embarked on a major management restructure of its energy division amid a wave of new executive departures, with Argentinian rugby star Gus Pichot looming as the major winner in the shake-up.
The reset has been triggered by the departure of the recently appointed boss of the company’s UK technology arm and the resignation of Fortescue’s president of European operations – the second to resign from the post this year.
Fortescue Energy boss Mark Hutchinson has been handed direct responsibility for running UK-based Williams Advanced Engineering, renamed Fortescue Zero this month.
Former Argentina rugby international Gus Pichot, a close confidant of Dr Forrest, will take charge of running the rest of Fortescue’s global energy projects in addition to its Latin American operations.
Mr Pichot has been appointed Fortescue’s “regional director – energy” – meaning the other regional directors will report directly to him, rather than to Mr Hutchinson.
A spokesman for Fortescue rejected any suggestion the move represented a move to sideline Mr Hutchinson, however, saying the former GE executive remained the chief executive of Fortescue Energy and that Mr Pichot remained his subordinate.
“Fortescue Energy CEO Mark Hutchinson recently took on the additional role of leading Fortescue Zero, the green technology arm of Fortescue. Fortescue Zero brings together all the green technologies to accelerate commercial decarbonisation rapidly, profitably and globally. This includes haul trucks, batteries, electrolysers, power conversion, intelligence software, trains, green shipping and green iron,” he said.
“While Western Australia remains Fortescue’s home, Perth is not the centre of gravity for our energy business. Fortescue Energy’s executive team reflects the global nature of the company.”
In addition to the fresh upheaval within Fortescue’s energy division, the company is still to announce the appointment of a permanent chief financial officer, 10 months after the sudden departure of Christine Morris from the role. Ms Morris quit after only two months in the job, following the exit of metals boss Fiona Hick – who herself lasted only a few months at the company.
The latest restructure within Fortescue’s energy division was partly triggered by the recent departure from Fortescue Zero of Judith Judson, appointed only 10 months ago. Ms Judson remains a Fortescue employee but is understood to have elected to return to live and work in the US for family reasons.
Fortescue Europe president Bruh Terfie has also just handed in his notice. Mr Terfie previously ran the company’s African section and was made the acting president for Europe in February, when Carlos Lange quit the job after only 10 months.
Mr Hutchinson will now replace Ms Judson as the interim chief executive of Fortescue Zero, the former technology company founded to back the Williams Formula One racing car team.
Mr Hutchinson joined Fortescue only two years ago, tasked with turning the results of Andrew Forrest’s grand green energy ambitions into reality.
But from the hundreds of billions of dollars in green energy projects earmarked by the iron ore billionaire’s whirlwind global tour in 2020 and 2021, Fortescue’s energy division has only managed to advance three relatively minor projects to the point of a final investment decision.
The restructure positions Mr Pichot as the clear heir to the top job within Fortescue’s Energy division should Mr Hutchinson, who has just turned 64, part ways with the iron ore and energy giant.
The executive reshuffle may only be the tip of more sweeping changes at Fortescue Energy, sources say, with staff on edge over talk the company is drafting plans to “reset” its ambitions as major planned projects fall by the wayside and Fortescue factors in a lower iron ore price outlook into its thinking.
Fortescue recently lost out to a Nigerian company in the race to be nominated to lead the development of the giant Grand Inga hydro power project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
And sources say the company is also cooling on other planned African projects, including a geothermal and green hydrogen play in Kenya – once slated as a key project for the company, which failed to make the cut in the round of final investment decisions in late 2023.
The shift comes amid a wave of other senior executive departures. Long-serving executive Julie Shuttleworth – Mr Hutchinson’s predecessor as Fortescue Energy boss – called time on her 11 years with the company this week.
A Fortescue spokesman confirmed Ms Shuttleworth’s amicable departure on Thursday, saying the former senior executive had called time on her 11 years with the iron ore giant and planned to spend time travelling abroad with her family.
“Julie has been an integral part of Fortescue’s success. We thank Julie for all she has contributed over 11 years and wish her the best as she enjoys some travel and time with her family,” he said.
Ms Shuttleworth had most recently been in charge of developing Fortescue’s Belinga iron ore project in Gabon.
She was previously a key member of the team seeking to deliver on Dr Forrest’s plans to reshape Fortescue as a global green energy and hydrogen giant, as the first boss of Fortescue Future Energy.
She is the latest in a long line of senior executives to leave Fortescue over the last two years.
Former Northern Territory chief minister Michael Gunner also left the company this year, along with Deborah Caudle, the chief financial officer of Fortescue’s energy division for only four months.
Dr Forrest in February blamed an exodus of senior bosses on the transition from a “fossil fuel-burning company to a green energy company”, but insists a period of high turnover is starting to settle down.
A revolving door of executives have jumped ship from the company in the past 12 months as pressure grows on Fortescue to execute a high-stakes pivot to green energy from its iron ore foundations that made its founder one of Australia’s richest men.
Dr Forrest last year said executives who left the iron ore major had struggled to cope with the “boiler room” conditions of the company and were not following his green vision.
However, Dr Forrest said in February that a degree of turnover was expected as the company transitioned from a pure iron ore producer to a green energy company with lofty global renewable hydrogen ambitions.
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull also formally severed ties with the company, and external affairs boss Fiona Sugden left to join the office of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Fortescue has promised to end its use of fossil fuels by the end of the decade and become a “real zero” emitter of carbon.
Dr Forrest said last year that former CEO Ms Hick chose to step aside after just six months in the role following differences of opinion over the company’s green transition.
Dr Forrest said Ms Hick’s swift departure – confirmed just hours after Fortescue wrapped up a lavish 20-year anniversary party at the company’s Solomon iron ore hub in the Pilbara – was an example of Fortescue’s “fail fast” approach. He said the company had chosen to lose Ms Hick, knowing that it would be criticised in the media, rather than delay the decision out of fear of negative headlines.
Fortescue this month launched secret raids on the homes and offices of directors of a green steel competitor in a move described by Federal Court judge John Logan as a potential “industrial-scale forensic debacle” amid claims of intellectual property theft.
Fortescue won court orders authorising the searches in May, targeting the offices of would-be green steel competitor Element Zero and the homes and computers of directors, including former Fortescue chief scientist Bart Kolodziejczyk, and former Fortescue staffer Bjorn Winther-Jensen. Long term Forrest lieutenant Michael Masterman has also been named as a respondent to the suit.
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