The world’s largest mining company BHP is likely to appoint the first female leader in its 140-year history, with Geraldine Slattery edging out other internal candidates in the race to succeed Mike Henry as chief executive.
An internal battle has waged in recent months to land one of the most senior corporate roles in global mining with Slattery, BHP’s current head of Australia, emerging as a leading candidate, according to people familiar with the board’s thinking.
Henry is expected to step down by the middle of 2026 after five years as chief executive, although people close to the company said the board was “not in a rush” to make a change.
The appointment will be one of the first big decisions to be made by Ross McEwan since he took over as chair of BHP in March. The former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive, who also ran National Australia Bank for five years, has led the search for Henry’s successor.
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Other contenders for the top job at BHP include Vandita Pant, the company’s chief financial officer who was promoted to the role last year, as well as chief commercial officer Ragnar Udd and Brandon Craig, its head of the Americas.
The new leadership at BHP comes at a time of generational change for the industry, with rivals such as Rio Tinto, Vale and Fortescue all appointing new chief executives recently, and the mining sector gripped by a wave of dealmaking.
Last year, BHP’s £39 billion bid for Anglo American was rebuffed. Anglo is now seeking to combine with Canada’s Teck Resources in an all share deal announced this month, leading to speculation about whether BHP might mount a comeback bid.
BHP, with a market capitalisation of $135 billion, which makes most of its profit from iron ore, is contending with stagnant revenues due to lacklustre Chinese steel demand, and is facing a huge investment bill to expand its largest copper mine.
Slattery was born in Ireland and emigrated to Australia in the 1990s, initially working for blood plasma company CSL before joining BHP. She rose to run the company’s Australian oil and gas operations and then oversaw its push into US shale ahead of her elevation to the role of head of BHP Petroleum.
When that business merged with Woodside as part of Henry’s reshaping of the company, she moved to run the Australian operations including the iron ore business in the Pilbara region as well as its coal operations in the north of the country, which have been slimmed down under her watch.
Slattery is a high-profile business figure in Australia, attending the Australian government’s productivity round-table in August, and accompanying Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to meet the leaders of China’s largest steelmakers in July.
BHP declined to comment. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
