Rio Tinto appoints FD Jakob Stausholm as chief executive after outrage over destruction of sacred Aboriginal site

Rio Tinto today announced it was promoting an internal candidate to become chief executive after the mining giant’s Jean-Sebastien Jacques quit following outrage over its decision to blow up ancient and sacred Aboriginal rock shelters.

The company has named finance director Jakob Stausholm as CEO, potentially upsetting some who had called for a complete overhaul of the company following the debacle.

Front runners from outside the company had included former BP finance director Brian Gilvary and Anglo American finance director Stephen Pearce.

However, in Stausholm, it has opted for an insider who was present at the company when the decision that triggered outrage around the world was made.

Stausholm joined Rio Tinto in 2018 and the company said he had “played a leading role in the group’s strong performance, maintaining capital allocation discipline and delivering significant shareholder returns.”

Rio Tinto destroyed the 46,000 year old sacred sites in Juukan Gorge on 24 May and an inquiry into the debacle two months ago heard that it was expected to destroy a further 124 Aboriginal heritage sitre at a new iron ore project less than 100km away.

Last week it was ordered to rebuild the site by the Australian parliament, and tempers are still running high for the group.

At a time when companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) behaviour is attracting great attention from investors, Stausholm will be under huge pressure to prove he is the right person to improve Rio’s reputation despite coming from within the same management team that carried out the destruction.

Referring to the “difficult times we have faced during 2020", he said: "I look forward to leading Rio Tinto and working with my colleagues across the business to ensure that we maintain strong safety, operational and financial performance while progressing our growth, sustainability and technological strategies.

“I am also acutely aware of the need to restore trust with Traditional Owners and our other stakeholders, which I view as a key priority for the company.”

Rio said Peter Cunningham, group controller, will step up to be chief financial officer in Stausholm’s place on an interim basis.

Jacques will step down on 1 January and chairman Simon Thompson praised his “strong leadership” since joining in 2016. He had delivered significant shareholder returns, Thompson said.