ASX:RIO Rio Tinto boss Jakob Stausholm to exit the $164b miner after almost five years at the top

Mining giant Rio Tinto has started a global search to replace chief executive Jakob Stausholm, who will step down from his position after spending almost five years at the top.

The $164 billion dual-listed company, which has shareholders in London and Australia, said it was conducting a search to replace Stausholm but did not provide a reason for his departure, other than saying it was a “natural moment” for the miner to appoint a successor.

“Under Jakob’s leadership, Rio Tinto has restored trust with key stakeholders, aligned our portfolio with the commodities where demand growth is strongest, built a diverse and talented management team, and set a compelling growth trajectory,” Rio’s chair Dominic Barton said, thanking the Danish national for his contribution.

“This is a natural moment to appoint Jakob’s successor, as we look ahead to our next phase in which we will double down to deliver greater operational performance to realise the full potential of our assets,” Barton said.

Rio is one of the world’s biggest exporters of iron ore and suppliers of aluminum. The statement on Stausholm’s departure came just an hour before Rio’s rival Fortescue announced the retirement of the head of its energy division, Mark Hutchinson, and chief operating officer Shelley Robertson.

Stausholm stepped up as boss of Rio in January 2021 after the disastrous destruction of two 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelters in the Pilbara unleashed a wave of global condemnation, triggered a federal parliamentary inquiry in Australia, and plunged the company into crisis, prompting the exit of then CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques and two other senior executives.

The miner is still improving its cultural heritage processes and relationships with traditional owners.

Soon after his appointment, Stausholm was plunged into an overhaul of Rio’s workplace culture after then sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick’s investigation found a culture of bullying, sexual harassment, and discrimination.

The company has focused on metals crucial to the energy transition, ramping up its copper output and, unlike its major peers, targeting lithium as a key growth area, buying projects in Argentina and Australia.