Rio Tinto today announces a number of Board changes.

Rio Tinto Chair Dominic Barton said: “As we reported last year, the size of the Board peaked at 14 Directors as we retained the expertise and experience of our longer-serving Directors during a transitional period as newer Directors familiarise themselves with the Group. That transitional phase is now largely concluded so we will make the following changes to the Board during 2025.

“At the conclusion of the Rio Tinto Limited AGM in May 2025, Sam Laidlaw will step down as a Director of the Company. Sam was appointed to the Board in February 2017 and has served as Chair of our People & Remuneration Committee and as the Senior Independent Director. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Sam, on behalf of the Board, for his outstanding contribution to Rio Tinto. Ben Wyatt will succeed Sam as Chair of the People & Remuneration Committee and Sharon Thorne will become our Senior Independent Director.

“Simon Henry will step down as a Director in the second half of 2025. Simon was appointed to the Board in April 2017 and has served as Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee since May 2019. We are grateful to Simon for his invaluable contribution to the Group. Sharon Thorne will succeed Simon as Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee.

“Kaisa Hietala will also step down as a Director at the conclusion of the Rio Tinto Limited AGM in May 2025. The recent growth in our Lithium business has increasingly created potential conflicts of interest with Kaisa’s non-executive directorship with Exxon Mobil. Out of an abundance of caution, Kaisa has offered to resolve this potential conflict by stepping down from the Rio Tinto Board. Kaisa has been a very welcome and valuable addition to the Board since her appointment in March 2023, and her guidance on energy transition and business transformation in particular have contributed significantly and insightfully to our discussions. While she will be greatly missed, we have accepted her decision to step down and wish Kaisa well for the future.”

This announcement is made in fulfilment of the Company's obligation under UK LR 6.4.6

This announcement is authorised for release to the market by Andy Hodges, Rio Tinto’s Group Company Secretary.

LEI: 213800YOEO5OQ72G2R82

Classification: 3.1 Additional regulated information required to be disclosed under the laws of a Member State.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250219069260/en/

Please direct all enquiries to media.enquiries@riotinto.com

Media Relations,
United Kingdom
David Outhwaite
M +44 7787 597 493

Media Relations,
Australia
Matt Chambers
M +61 433 525 739
Michelle Lee
M +61 458 609 322
Rachel Pupazzoni
M +61 438 875 469

Media Relations,
Canada
Malika Cherry
M +1 418 592 7293
Vanessa Damha
M +1 514 715 2152

Media Relations,
US
Jesse Riseborough
M +1 202 394 9480

Investor Relations,
United Kingdom
Rachel Arellano
M: +44 7584 609 644
David Ovington
M +44 7920 010 978
Laura Brooks
M +44 7826 942 797
Weiwei Hu
M +44 7825 907 230

Investor Relations,
Australia
Tom Gallop
M +61 439 353 948
Amar Jambaa
M +61 472 865 948

Rio Tinto plc
6 St James’s Square
London SW1Y 4AD
United Kingdom
T +44 20 7781 2000
Registered in England
No. 719885

Rio Tinto Limited
Level 43, 120 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
Australia
T +61 3 9283 3333
Registered in Australia
ABN 96 004 458 404

riotinto.com

Category: General

Logo

Tags

More Like This

Rio Tinto Board changes

Rio Tinto Board change

Rio Tinto Board changes

Joc O’Rourke joins Rio Tinto Board

Rio Tinto investing for a stronger, more diversified portfolio

Rio Tinto appoints new Chief People Officer

Rio Tinto invests with discipline to strengthen the performance of assets and grow

Rio Tinto releases second quarter production results