BHP boss Mike Henry restructures leadership team, CFO stepping down after only three years

After only three years in the job, BHP finance boss David Lamont will step down in a major reshuffle of the miner’s leadership team.

BHP chief financial officer David Lamont will step down from his role at the mining giant after only three years, triggering a restructure of the company’s leadership team as it sets the field as competition as CEO Mike Henry’s eventual replacement.

The executive reshuffle sees Mr Lamont make way for rising BHP star Vandita Pant, with Americas boss Rag Udd, iron ore president Brandon Craig and chief development officer Johan van Jaarsveld also seen as winners from latest changes.

Chief operating officer Edgar Basto and Minerals Australia chief Geraldine Slattery – also seen as likely contenders for the BHP top job – remain in their roles after the latest reshuffle.

Mr Lamont will remain with BHP until February 2025, just ahead of his 60th birthday, in an “advisory and projects capacity” reporting to Mr Henry.

The finance executive steered the mining giant through the biggest corporate restructuring in its recent history, as BHP unwound the dual-listed structure that was the final legacy of the blockbuster merger with Billiton just over two decades ago.

Mr Lamont joined BHP from biotech CSL in 2020, and has held a lower public profile than his predecessor, Peter Beaven.

His appointment came after Mr Henry emerged as the winner in a bruising contest with Mr Beaven for BHP’s top job, and his recruitment as finance boss was seen at the time as a move to ease market uncertainty about Mr Henry’s appointment by adding a well-known figure in corporate circles to BHP’s leadership team.

When Mr Lamont was recruited he was paid a $US300,000 sign-on bonus to replace an expected cash bonus from CSL in 2021. He was also awarded 77,000 performance shares, to vest in August 2022, to replace long-term CSL awards he could have received.

Those performance rights, worth about $3.65m at BHP’s current price, were due for release from a holding lock in August, as Mr Lamont delivered BHP’s latest financial results.

The management reshuffle will also see the departure of chief technical officer Laura Tyler, who will leave BHP early in 2024 after almost 20 years service with the mining giant.

Chief commercial officer Vandita Pant will step up as the company’s new chief financial officer.

BHP Americas boss Rag Udd will take on Ms Pant’s role as chief commercial officer, with WA iron ore president Brandon Craig taking on the role of running BHP’s operations in North and South America – including building the company’s Jansen potash project in Canada,

Chief development officer Johan van Jaarsveld has been appointed chief technical officer, replacing Laura Tyler.

Mr Henry said in a statement the management reshuffle was aimed at building organisational capacity.

“These new appointments ensure that we continue to build organisational capacity, with the right mix of skills, experience and perspectives to deliver BHP’s strategy and pursue our growth agenda,” he said.

“Our operating environment is increasingly complex, but also rich in opportunity for companies that are best able to positively engage stakeholders, deploy capital to the right opportunities in a disciplined way and deliver safe, reliable operational performance.”

Mr Henry is now entering his fifth year in BHP’s top job. His two predecessors, Andrew Mackenzie and Marius Kloppers, each served around six years in the top job.

The latest reshuffle comes after chairman Ken Mackenzie indicated at BHP’s annual meeting that he intended to seek an additional two-year term as a director, suggesting he intends to oversee his second CEO succession at the mining giant.

In addition to Mr Basto and Ms Slattery, the move of Mr Udd to the role of chief commercial officer suggests he is also in the mix for the next CEO given the position has generated two previous bosses in recent history, Mr Henry and Marius Kloppers.

And, while Ms Pant is seen as a strong candidate both internally and by the market, further promotion to BHP’s top job would be a reversal of form for the company, which has traditionally not moved its CFOs into the chief executive role.

The promotions for Mr Craig and Mr van Jaarsveld underline their status as rising BHP stars, but neither is likely to be seen as replacements for Mr Henry.