David Boyd Burritt (born c. 1955) is an American businessman who is the CEO of
U.S. Steel
The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe.
The company produces and sells steel products, ...
. Prior to joining U.S. Steel, Burritt spent over three decades at Caterpillar Inc. As head of U.S. Steel, Burritt has overseen the reopening of the Granite City Works steel mill, the acquisition of Big River Steel, and investments in sustainable steel production.
Early life
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Burritt earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from
Bradley University
Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,200 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in fiv ...
in 1977 and an
M.B.A.
A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...
from the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...
in 1990.
Career
Burritt has been CEO of U.S. Steel since 2017. Before this, he held various leadership positions at the company, including president and chief operating officer (2017) and CFO (2013-2017). Before joining U.S. Steel, Burritt spent 32 years at
Caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...
, where he was the company's CFO.
During his tenure as CEO, Burritt oversaw the reopening of the Granite City Works steel mill in Illinois in 2018. He also led the ratification of a new four-year contract with the
United Steelworkers
The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headqua ...
in 2018. In 2021, U.S. Steel completed its acquisition of Big River Steel, a move that Burritt described as creating "the first 'Best of Both' integrated and mini-mill steel company." This acquisition followed an initial investment by U.S. Steel in Big River Steel in 2019. Years later, Burritt announced that Big River Steel Mill became the first ResponsibleSteel-certified site in North America and said, “This marks an important milestone on our journey to build a more sustainable future for our customers, company, colleagues, communities and the planet.” In September 2024, U.S. Steel became the world's first company to qualify to sell ResponsibleSteel Certified Steel.
Burritt led a $60 million investment at its Gary Works, Indiana, facility to install a pig iron caster that will grow production of pig iron. A month later, he led an investment of $150 million to build a direct-reduced-grade pellet plant at its Keetac iron ore mining and pellet processing facility in Keewatin, Minnesota.
In December 2022, Burritt worked with members of the United Steelworkers union to ratify a four-year contract that would cover 11,000 workers at 13 U.S. Steel locations and included a $4,000 bonus.
Proposed Acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel
Burritt led a deal to sell the company to Japan-based
Nippon Steel
(previously known as Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal until 2019) is Japan's largest steelmaker, headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company has four business segments, which are steelmaking, engineering, chemicals, and systems solu ...
after rejecting a competing bid from U.S.-based Cleveland Cliffs that proposed $35 per share to U.S. Steel shareholders.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG)
During his tenure, Burritt introduced U.S. Steel's verdeX™ steel, which manufactured with up to 75% fewer emissions compared to traditional blast furnace production.
In April 2021, Burritt set a goal for U.S. Steel to achieve
carbon neutrality
Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon dioxide (). Reaching net ze ...
by 2050 in support of the
Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was ...
and said “U.S. Steel intends to be a part of the climate solution.” This built on the previous target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 20% by 2030. Between 2018 and 2021, he achieved a 16% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
In September 2022 he announced that U.S. Steel had sold green bonds and would be using revenue from the bonds to put toward the construction of its Big River 2 facility in Osceola, Arkansas, with an expected completion in 2024.
Affiliations
Burritt has been on the
Lockheed Martin
The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...
board of directors since 2008, and sits on the audit and compensation committees. In October 2018, he joined the board of directors of the
National Safety Council
The National Safety Council (NSC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public service organization promoting health and safety in the United States. Headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, NSC is a member organization, founded in 1913 and granted a congress ...
. As of October 2021 he is on the executive committee of the
World Steel Association
World Steel Association, abbreviated as worldsteel, is the international industry association for the iron and steel sector. The association is one of the largest and most dynamic industry associations in the world, with members in every major s ...
board of directors, and is a member on
The Business Council
The Business Council is a nonpartisan organization of business leaders headquartered in Washington, D.C.