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Andrew Liveris | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Liveris at theWorld Economic Forum Annual Meeting in 2013 | |
| President of theBrisbane Organising Committee for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games | |
| Assumed office 30 July 2028 | |
| Leader | Kirsty Coventry |
| Preceding | Casey Wasserman (Los Angeles 2028) |
| President of theBrisbane Organising Committee for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games | |
| Assumed office 11 April 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Andrew N. Liveris Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia |
| Spouse | Paula Liveris |
| Alma mater | University of Queensland |
| Occupation | CEO and chairman ofThe Dow Chemical Company[1][2] Chairman ofLucid Motors[1][2] |
| Website | Biography page |
Andrew N. Liveris is an Australian former CEO and chairman ofThe Dow Chemical Company ofMidland, Michigan. Liveris has served as a member of Dow's board of directors since February 2004, CEO since November 2004, and, was elected as chairman of the board effective 1 April 2006. Liveris became CEO in 2004 after holding the position of chief operating officer (COO). Afterwards, he served as executive chairman ofDowDuPont. He is the chairman of the board ofLucid Motors.
Andrew N. Liveris[citation needed] was born inDarwin, Australia. He is the grandson ofGreek immigrants from the island ofKastellorizo and identifies strongly with his Greek heritage.[3][4] He attendedDarwin High School, then moved toBrisbane, where he continued his education atBrisbane State High School.[3]
He earned a bachelor's degree (first-class-honours) inChemical Engineering from theUniversity of Queensland.[5]
Liveris began his career at Dow Chemical in 1976 inMelbourne, Australia.[4] He spent much of his career inAsia before moving to North America, with roles in manufacturing, engineering, sales, marketing, and business and general management. Liveris spent 14 years inHong Kong and served as Dow's general manager inThailand before becoming head of Dow's entire Asia-Pacific operations.[6][7]
Liveris joined Dow's board of directors in February 2004 and became the CEO in November 2004.[8] Liveris, appointed CEO in 2004 after the board of directors unanimously selected him in part based upon his plan to transform Dow, began to implement the new strategy.[9][10][11]
His election tochairman of the board became effective on 1 April 2006.[12] His predecessor wasWilliam S. Stavropoulos.
Liveris' strongest move to implement the strategy came with the purchase ofRohm and Haas in the summer of 2008 for $16.2 billion. This Fortune 500 company, a leader inspecialty chemicals, was the subject of a global auction, which Dow won with a bid of $16.2 billion. The acquisition proved to be synergistic in terms of growth, allowing a broader and deeper presentation to clients with regard to value-added chemicals, plastics, and materials, but also in terms of costs.[13]
The acquisition closed during the2008 financial crisis. The credit crisis caused one of Dow's joint venture partners, Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) of the State of Kuwait, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), to withdraw from a planned partnership in basic plastics, despite an agreed contract, depriving Dow of $9 billion in proceeds designated to fund the Rohm and Haas deal. The London-based International Court of Arbitration ruled in March 2012 to award Dow $2.16 Billion plus costs and interest from Kuwait due to its cancellation of the 2008 agreement.[14]
In March 2009, Liveris and his management team organised a plan to implement the Rohm and Haas integration, focusing on growth and cost synergies, but also reducing costly debt from the transaction through public offerings, along with equity offers. The plan also called for the divestiture of non-strategic assets, which was accomplished through a sales process that assured maximum valuation.[15]
In 2015, auditors at Dow challenged what they said was improper spending by Liveris. Auditors testified that he used the company's Customer Events Department for personal events including family events and various services. The Liveris family subsequently repaid several hundred thousand dollars to Dow. The head of the auditing department retracted the annual auditing reports for multiple years due to concerns about inaccurate reporting tothe SEC and shareholders.[16]
In March 2017, he said the ban on onshore gas exploration by the Victorian Government in Australia was "nonsense," and that he offered "Dow’s unfettered help with no intended positives for Dow" in learning extraction techniques.[17]
In April 2017, Dow said that it was considering retaining Liveris beyond his planned retirement on 30 June 2017, to help oversee the planned merger between Dow andDuPont.[18] In May, Dow said that Liveris would retire from the DowDuPont company in mid-2018, serving as executive chairman until between April and July 2018.[19] He stepped down from his executive positions at DowDuPont on 1 April 2018, remaining a director.[20] He remained chairman and CEO of The Dow Chemical Company.[21] After his retirement, Liveris outlined plans to author several books and remain tangentially active with Dow. He also said he would join the board of Saudi Aramco.[22] He toured Dow facilities in 12 countries in June 2018 and was also at the opening of the Andrew N. Liveris Visitors and Heritage Center in Midland.[22]
In December 2016, Liveris was named byDonald Trump to lead hisAmerican Manufacturing Council.[23][24] Liveris said Trump created a climate that is conducive to business effectiveness for his company.[25] On 27 January 2017, Trump publicly announced the names of the 28 members to make up the council,[26] with Liveris heading the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative.[27]
While Liveris was chairman and CEO of Dow Chemical, the company donated $1 million to Trump's presidential inauguration.[28] In 2017, the Associated Press reported that Dow was pressuring the Trump administration to ignore risk assessment studies about the harms of pesticides.[28]
In 2022, Liveris was chosen to lead the organizing committee for the2032 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games inBrisbane.[29]
Liveris is the author ofMake it in America: The Case for Re-Inventing the Economy (first published in 2011, updated in 2012).[30] Liveris argues that a healthy manufacturing sector is essential to creating jobs. Failing to support American manufacturing, as well as research and development, undermines America's potential to engage in new growth sectors such asclean energy andnanotechnology.[31][32]
Liveris has served on the board of directors of the battery company Novonix,[33][34]IBM,Saudi Aramco, Worley,Lucid Motors (chairman as of 2021[35]).
He is[when?] on the advisory board ofSumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Teneo (a global CEO consulting and advisory firm), and NEOM (an initiative driven by Saudi Vision 2030). He is Chairman of theBlackRock Long Term Capital and a special advisor to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.[36] and a member of the executive committee of theBusiness Roundtable. Liveris is also a former president of theInternational Council of Chemical Associations.[37]
He served as vice-chairman ofThe Business Council for 2011 and 2012, and as chairman for 2013 and 2014.[38][39][40][41] He is a member of thePeterson Institute for International Economics, and theAmerican Australian Association.[42]
Liveris is[when?] on the board of trustees for theUnited States Council for International Business and is a trustee of theCalifornia Institute of Technology. Liveris is a member of the Business Advisory Board for theUniversity of Technology Sydney (UTS) Business School. In April 2012 he became a member of the Special Olympics International board of directors.[43][44][45]
Liveris collaborated withMuhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company,George David, chairman of the Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, and George Stamas, partner at Kirkland and Ellis LLP, to found The Hellenic Initiative (THI), a non-profit, non-governmental organization to encourage entrepreneurship and job-creation investments in Greece.[46][47]
The $250 billion Saudi ArabiaPublic Investment Fund (PIF) appointed Andrew Liveris as a special adviser on matters of strategic importance, to assist the fund in efforts to boost the value of its portfolio and ensure the contribution of PIF companies toSaudi Arabia's economic vision program 2030.[48] He has also joined the board of Australia's WorleyParsons.[49]WorleyParsons (WOR) chairmanJohn Grill said Liveris' "breadth of global leadership experience" in the US and Middle East will enhance the abilities of its board.[50]
Liveris and his wife Paula have three adult children,[3] includingAnthony Liveris,[66] founder of thedata analytics firm Applecart.[67] His daughter, Alexandra, is a filmmaker.[68][69] As of 2018, Liveris and his wife travel between their homes in Australia[22] andMidland, Michigan.[70]
The Greek-Australian chairman and chief executive of Dow Chemical is based in Midland, Michigan
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| Preceded by | President of Organizing Committee for Summer Olympic Games 2032 | Succeeded by TBD |
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