Rio appoints new chief executive

Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) has appointed Simon Trott as the company’s chief executive effective from August 25 2025.

The appointment follows the resignation of the company’s current chief executive Jakob Stausholm earlier this year.

Currently Rio Tinto iron ore chief executive, Mr Trott has a track record of exceptional delivery over 25 years in various roles across a wide range of commodities and geographics.

Through his current role with the company, Mr Trott has improved operational performance (underpinned by safety and financial discipline), reset partnerships with key stakeholders and secured the future growth of the business with new mine developments.

In his previous role as chief commercial officer, Mr Trott established the company’s commercial operations, unlocking efficiency and deepening strategic customer relationships. Prior to this he held various managing director roles across multiple Rio Tinto operations.

Rio Tinto chair Dominic Barton says Mr Trott is an outstanding leader with a deep understanding of mining and a track record of delivering operational excellence and creating value across our business.

“Simon came into our iron ore business at a time of significant challenges and has been instrumental in rebuilding culture, strengthening external relationships and setting us on a pathway for growth,” he said.

“Under his leadership, iron ore has become a centre of innovation for the group, driving operational excellence, technology and operating model optimisation — levers [Mr Trott] can now bring to Rio Tinto at scale.”

The search process for the new chief executive was led by the nominations committee, chaired by Mr Barton, and the appointment decision was made by the full Rio Tinto Board.

The process built upon routine succession planning work the board has undertaken over a two-year period and included potential internal and external candidates.

CME chief executive Rebecca Tomkinson says Mr Trott’s stewardship of CME has coincided with a once-in-a-generation energy transition and a rapidly shifting geopolitical climate.

“Simon is one of Australia’s leading resources executives and has played a significant role shaping WA’s world-leading iron ore sector,” she said.

“Despite the challenging environment, he has worked tirelessly to promote the immense contribution of our state’s resources sector and to advocate for sensible and pragmatic solutions to the issues confronting industry.”