Simon Thompson (businessman)

Simon Thompson (born 16 June 1959) is a British investment banker and business executive. He is the current chairman of the Rio Tinto and was the former chairman of: Tarmac Group and Tullow Oil. He serves as the chairman of 3i.

Simon Thompson
Born16 June 1959 (1959-06-16) (age 65)
Bramhall, England
EducationManchester Grammar School
Alma materUniversity College, Oxford
OccupationInvestment banker
Board member ofRio Tinto
SpouseFiona Graham-Bryce
Parent(s)Robert Thompson
Patricia Thompson

Early life

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Simon Thompson was born on 16 June 1959 in Bramhall.[1] He was educated at the Manchester Grammar School.[1] He graduated from University College, Oxford, where he earned a bachelor's degree in geology in 1985.[1][2]

Career

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Thompson worked for Lloyds Bank from 1981 to 1985, N M Rothschild & Sons from 1985 to 1994, and S. G. Warburg & Co. from 1994 to 1995.[1] He joined Minorco, a mining company, in 1995, first as its head of finance until 1997, and as the head of its Brazilian subsidiary until 1999,[2] when it merged with Anglo American plc.[1] He subsequently worked for Anglo American, serving as the chief executive officer of its Anglo Base Metals Division from 2001 to 2007.[2]

Thompson was the chairman of the Tarmac Group from 2005 to 2007.[1][3] He was the chairman of Tullow Oil from 2012 to 2015,[1][3] when he succeeded Adrian Montague as the chairman of 3i in 2015.[4]

Thompson served on the boards of directors of the Newmont from 2008 to 2014.[5] He also served on the board of Amec Foster Wheeler from 2009 to 2015, and Sandvik from 2014 2015.[4][5] He serves as the chairman of Rio Tinto.[4][5]

In 2020, under Thompson's chairmanship, Rio Tinto destroyed a 46,000-year-old significant Aboriginal site at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia.[6]

Personal life

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Thompson married Fiona Graham-Bryce in 1986.[1] He is a member of the Athenæum Club and the Alpine Club,[1] and he is the author of two books about climbing and hiking.

Works

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  • Thompson, Simon (2010). Unjustifiable Risk? The Story of British Climbing. Milnthorpe, Cumbria, U.K.: Cicerone Press. ISBN 9781849656993. OCLC 893659566.
  • Thompson, Simon (2013). A Long Walk with Lord Conway: An Exploration of the Alps and an English Adventurer. Oxford, U.K.: Signal Books. ISBN 9781908493804. OCLC 871584256.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "THOMPSON, Simon Robert". Who's Who 2017. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Newmont Mining Corp (NEM:New York): Simon R. Thompson MA (Oxon)". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  3. ^ a b Cotterill, Joseph (13 April 2015). "3i appoints Simon Thompson as chairman". Financial Times. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Wallace, Tim (14 April 2015). "Montague quits as 3i chair to focus on Aviva". City AM. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  5. ^ a b c "Board of directors: Simon Thompson". Rio Tinto. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  6. ^ Ker, Peter (8 September 2020). "Rio Tinto set to escalate its response to Juukan Gorge destruction". City AM. Retrieved 9 September 2020.