Elizabeth Gaines
Brendon ThorneGetty Images
- TitleCEO
- AffiliationFortescue Metals
- 2020 Rank17
- CountryAustralia
In August, Gaines reported Fortescue’s second consecutive record-smashing fiscal year, with revenues climbing 74% to $22.3 billion, and profits up 117%, to $10.2 billion for the 12 months ended in June. That performance was powered again by strong demand in Fortescue’s main market, China, which has been gobbling up iron ore for steel production, and exacerbated by supply issues in other parts of the world. Gaines’s 10,000-strong workforce met those conditions—even during periods of pandemic lockdown in Australia and amid the country’s fraying diplomatic ties with China—delivering its strongest-ever operational performance and best-ever safety record. Gaines is also working to diversify and decarbonize the company by pushing into the business of renewable green hydrogen, an energy source that many believe will fuel steel production in the future.
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