What's Next for Outgoing Shell Boss?

Outgoing Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden has revealed what he’ll get up to after leaving Shell at the end of the year in an in-house interview posted on the company’s website.

“I don't have a plan - this is a conscious decision,” van Beurden said in the interview.

“It has been quite a demanding nine years for me and the family, so I have followed the advice that many people gave me, that when you step down and all these people come to you with job offers, ideas or whatever else, say no to everything. I’ve done that so far. It's a bit scary but I quite like the prospect of having six or 12 months of enjoying life in a completely different way, rather than trying to get satisfaction out of work,” he added.

“There is a little bit of rebalancing needed, particularly with old friends … I want to play golf. I want to travel a bit more, have a lot more quality time with the family. I like to read books, but as CEO, in a good year, I would read perhaps two books, because the rest of the time I was reading documents, emails, appraisals or whatever,” van Beurden continued.

In the interview, the Shell boss said he was sure that, at some point in time, “I shall get restless again”. He added however, that he has decided, “I shall wait for that moment rather than pre-empt it”.

Rigzone has asked Shell’s media team if van Beurden would ever take on the lead role of another oil and gas company, although, at the time of writing, it has not been possible to get an answer to this question.

Back in September, Shell announced van Beurden would step down at the end of 2022 and revealed that it had named a new CEO, Wael Sawan, effective January 1, 2023. Shell outlined that van Beurden would continue working as an adviser to the board until June 30, 2023, after which he will leave the group.

Van Beurden, who has been Shell CEO since January 1, 2014, has had a 39-year career with the company. He was previously Downstream Director from January to September 2013 and Executive Vice President of Chemicals from 2006 to 2012. Sawan is currently Shell’s Director of Integrated Gas, Renewables and Energy Solutions. Previously the Director of Upstream at Shell, Sawan has worked in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas during his 25-year Shell career.

Sawan is seen as a natural choice who will follow the course laid out by his predecessor, Bloomberg reported in an article published in September.

Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies with more than 80,000 employees in more than 70 countries. The company posted a revenue of $261.5 billion, and income of $20.6 billion, in 2021.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com