By Emiliya Mychasuk and Emiko Terazono
Published: November 2 2007 02:00 | Last updated: November 2 2007 02:00
No sooner had the urbane Rio chairman Paul Skinner completed a summer merger with Alcan, than the the miner was being mooted by traders as a takeover target.
Well respected by investors, the 62-year-old has been Rio chairman since 2003 and now has a new chief executive by his side in Tom Albanese, who took over from the mining group’s veteran Leigh Clifford in May. They have the looming task of welding Rio and Alcan together.
Mr Skinner came from Shell, where he spent 40 years travelling the world with the oil group.
As an undergraduate wanting to work in an international business, he turned to Shell to sponsor his studies at Cambridge. There he read law and was a football blue. His career at the oil group took him to New Zealand, Greece, Nigeria and Norway, and in his last job with the group Mr Skinner was chief executive of Shell’s refining business with 80,000 workers across 140 countries.
After losing out on the chairman’s job to Sir Philip Watts, he left the company.
His other board roles include a seat on the MoD’s defence management board as well as Standard Chartered and packaging group Tetra Laval.
He listens to opera on his iPod and enjoys skiing and golf.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
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