Rio Tinto | Minerals and Metals for the world

Sam Walsh – Aluminium/Iron ore

Man of aluminium becomes man of iron

Rio Tinto tends to grow its own talent. Most of the company's top executives joined the Group relatively early in their careers and then climbed steadily up the corporate ladder to reach the uppermost echelons of management.

Sam Walsh, 55, chief executive of Rio Tinto Aluminium since March 2001, is one of the exceptions. He was recruited into a senior position in 1991, and now, with Chris Renwick's retirement this month, he takes over as chief executive of the Iron Ore group..

Walsh's roots are in the automotive industry. After studying for a commerce degree in Melbourne, the city where he grew up, he began his working life at General Motors. He spent 15 years there, eventually heading up the Supply function at Holden and leading the restructuring of the company in the mid 1980s. In 1987 he left GM to join Nissan Australia, where he became executive director in charge of Operations in 1989.

But after four years with Nissan he was ready for a new career challenge. “I was running an operation with 3,500 people that was producing 40,000 cars a year but I felt I had gone as far as I could in the Australian automobile industry,” he says. “So, in 1991, when I was approached and asked if I would be interested in joining CRA as managing director of its aluminium foundry operations, I saw it as an opportunity to 'reinvent' myself and take my career in an interesting new direction.”



Sam Walsh – Aluminium/Iron ore Man of aluminium becomes man of iron Rio Tinto tends to grow its own talent. Most of the company's top executives joined the Group relatively early in their careers and then climbed steadily up the corporate ladder to reach the uppermost echelons of management. Sam Walsh, 55, chief executive of Rio Tinto Aluminium since March 2001, is one of the exceptions. He was recruited into a senior position in 1991, and now, with Chris Renwick's retirement this month, he takes over as chief executive of the Iron Ore group.. Walsh's roots are in the automotive industry. After studying for a commerce degree in Melbourne, the city where he grew up, he began his working life at General Motors. He spent 15 years there, eventually heading up the Supply function at Holden and leading the restructuring of the company in the mid 1980s. In 1987 he left GM to join Nissan Australia, where he became executive director in charge of Operations in 1989. But after four years with Nissan he was ready for a new career challenge. “I was running an operation with 3,500 people that was producing 40,000 cars a year but I felt I had gone as far as I could in the Australian automobile industry,” he says. “So, in 1991, when I was approached and asked if I would be interested in joining CRA as managing director of its aluminium foundry operations, I saw it as an opportunity to 'reinvent' myself and take my career in an interesting new direction.”
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Review is published by Rio Tinto, 6 St James' Square, London SW1Y 4LD, England Telephone +44 (0)20 7930 2399 Editor: Cherry DeGeer