Shell CEO Ben van Beurden to leave at year-end; gas chief Sawan to step in
Shell Plc Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden will step down at the end of this year after almost 40 years at the company, to be replaced by the firm’s head of gas and renewables, Wael Sawan.
Van Beurden, 64, has steered the company through some of its most turbulent times. The first big move of his tenure as CEO, which began in 2014, was the takeover of rival BG Group Plc, a deal valued at close to $50 billion that tested the company’s finances during an oil price slump, but is now paying off as natural gas prices soar.
At the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, van Beurden made the first cut to Shell’s dividend since the Second World War,
