The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is trending lower today after the company made an announcement to the ASX regarding its CEO Andrew Mackenzie.
In an ASX announcement to the market before open this morning, BHP released the following notice:
The Board of BHP today announced that Andrew Mackenzie's retirement date will be 31 March 2020, three months earlier than previously announced on 14 November 2019. The Board, Mr Mackenzie and Mr Henry are confident that the CEO transition is proceeding well and ahead of schedule, with Mike Henry assuming the role of Chief Executive Officer from 1 January 2020, as previously announced.
Mr Mackenzie has served as BHP CEO since May 2013 and has recently caught headlines for taking a proactive stance on BHP's role in mitigating climate change (BHP is a major producer of thermal coal and petroleum). He also oversaw the massive demerger of South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) in 2015.
Perhaps the biggest controversy that Mr Mackenzie has had to deal with was the 2015 Mariana dam collapse in Brazil, which saw the deaths of 19 people and billions of dollars' worth of damage.
However, today it's clear the market isn't too enthusiastic about Mr Mackenzie's early departure. BHP shares opened 1.1% lower today at $39.32 and have fallen further since – currently trading for $39.18 at the time of writing. Mr Mackenzie leaves the company with BHP shares at their highest levels since 2014.
