Rio Puts Faith in Copper Chief to Exit Commodities `Spin Cycle'
- Frenchman Jacques to replace Rio CEO Sam Walsh in July
- Appointment signals strategic pivot for next growth phase
Rio Tinto Bets Big on New CEO
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The deal that probably did more than any other to help secure 44-year-old Jean-Sebastien Jacques the top job at miner Rio Tinto Group was brokered with the assistance of his nine-year-old daughter.
With the company’s $6 billion copper mine expansion in Mongolia bogged down in a political quagmire, Jacques invited prime minister-elect Chimediin Saikhanbileg to his west London home 18 months ago. Over dinner, Jacques’s daughter asked the Mongolian for his autograph. The gesture broke the ice, helping pave the way for a financing accord that allowed the company to push ahead with the mine.