Charles Waterhouse "Chip" Goodyear IV (born January 18, 1958) is an American businessman and the former CEO of BHP Billiton. He is a member of the Goodyear family that had extensive business interests in lumber and railways, as well as significant philanthropic endeavors.
Early life
Charles Waterhouse Goodyear IV was born on January 18, 1958, in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
. He is the son of Charles Waterhouse Goodyear III (born 1933), a Texas oil man who worked for
Exxon
ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
Company International (and later as a fuel products marketing manager for Exxon in
Florham Park, NJ
Florham Park is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 11,696, of Darien, Connecticut.
Goodyear graduated from Yale University in 1980 with a science degree in geology and geophysics. While at Yale, he rowed on the lightweight crew team. He also received an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1983.Charles Goodyear's speech from 2006 Alumni Dinner . Melbourne Business School (2007). Retrieved 26 December 2007.
Career
After graduation in 1983, Goodyear began his career as an investment banker at a Wall Street brokerage, Kidder Peabody, advising companies on mergers, acquisitions and financing. He left Kidder Peabody in 1989 as Vice President and joined Freeport-McMoRan, one of the world's largest producers of copper and gold, as Vice President - Corporate Finance. He was promoted to Executive Vice President and
chief financial officer
The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...
in 1995, ultimately leaving the firm in 1997 to serve as president of "Goodyear Capital Corporation" until 1999.
In 1999, Goodyear joined BHP Billiton, the world's largest diversified resources company, as
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
. He served in that role until 2001, when he became Chief Development Officer, a post he held until 2003. In 2003, it was announced that Goodyear would succeed Brian Gilbertson as the chief executive officer of BHP.
Goodyear retired from BHP on September 30, 2007, and from the BHP Group on January 1, 2008, and was succeeded by
Marius Kloppers
Marius Jacques Kloppers (born 26 August 1962) is a South African-born Australian businessman and former CEO of BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company. He was also Executive Director and Chairman of the Group Management Committee from 2 ...
. Goodyear was considered by '' Businessweek'' to have been responsible for BHP Billiton's turn-around during the 2000s since, under his leadership, sales increased by 47% and profits by 78%, placing him on top of their "Europe BW50 Leaders" list. Others, including consulting firm Deloitte, attributed BHP's success to rising global commodity prices.
On February 6, 2009, Temasek Holdings, which had a portfolio worth 185 billion Singapore dollars ($123 billion US dollars) at the time, announced his appointment as a board member and CEO-designate, to commence on March 1, 2009, succeeding Ho Ching from October 1, 2009. He was identified as a possible candidate for the top office in Temasek in 2007, when the Temasek Board began reviewing internal and external CEO candidates since early 2005. Goodyear would have been the first foreign executive to run the Singaporean sovereign fund company,
however, on July 21, 2009, the Temasek Board and Goodyear announced that they had mutually agreed that he would not be taking over as CEO, citing differences in opinions on strategy. Instead, Ho Ching continued in the position, while Goodyear stepped down on August 15, 2009.
As of September 2015, Goodyear is again the president of "Goodyear Capital Corporation" and "Goodyear Investment Company".
Personal life
On July 11, 1992, 34-year-old Goodyear married 28-year-old Elizabeth Morris Dabezies, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Oliver H. Dabezies Jr. of New Orleans. Dr. Dabezies was an ophthalmologist in New Orleans and a clinical professor of ophthalmology at Tulane University. The Rev. Thomas Condon performed the Roman Catholic ceremony at the chapel of the Academy of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans, Louisiana. Elizabeth Dabezies graduated from the University of Alabama and worked as a leasing manager with the
Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation
Edward John DeBartolo Sr. (May 17, 1909 – December 19, 1994) was an American businessman. In 1971, his Ohio-based corporation was ranked as 47th among the nation's top 400 construction contractors. In 1983, DeBartolo was included on ''For ...
Goodyear served as a member of the Yale University Tomorrow Campaign Committee. He currently serves on the President's Council on International Activities and as Chairman of the Jackson Institute Council, and he was named Successor Trustee of the Yale Corporation in 2011. Goodyear is also a director of several private companies and is a member of the Prince's Charities Council in the United Kingdom.