Lorenzo Simonelli is the Chairman, President and

Chief Executive Officer 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 especial ...

Baker Hughes Baker Hughes Company, organized in Delaware and headquartered in Houston, is one of the world's largest oil field services companies. The company provides products and services for oil well drilling, formation evaluation, completion, productio ...

, an

energy technology Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reuse ...

company.

Early life and education

Simonelli is originally from

Tuscany, Italy it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, where his family owns a vineyard producing wine and olive oil. He moved to London with his father aged 9 and was educated at

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is an English co-educational, fee-charging, independent day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgat ...

. Simonelli holds a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Business and Economics Business economics is a field in applied economics which uses economic theory and quantitative methods to analyze business enterprises and the factors contributing to the diversity of organizational structures and the relationships of firms with ...

from

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

, and he received a master's degree

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...

in Chemical Sciences from the

University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The first univer ...

in January 2016 “''as an acknowledgment for his excellent managerial commitment to develop advanced research in the field of chemical sciences, with particular attention to results that have technological importance''.”

Career

Simonelli started his career in International and Corporate Finance at

Mitsubishi Bank was a major Japanese bank that served as the main bank for the Mitsubishi conglomerate/''keiretsu''. It merged with The Bank of Tokyo in 1996 to form The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (now MUFG Bank). The bank's operations date to 1880, when Mitsubis ...

. One of his father's friends, former GE Vice Chairman and chairman of

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

, Paolo Fresco, advised him to look at GE's training programs. Simonelli joined GE's Financial Management Program in 1994. In 1997 Simonelli joined GE's Corporate Audit Staff and had assignments in Asia, Europe and the U.S. around both financial and process improvement areas. He progressed to be executive audit manager for European Industrial Businesses in 2001. In 2002, he joined Consumer Products as the financial planning and analysis manager. In April 2004, he became CFO Americas for Consumer & Industrial before being appointed to general manager, Product Management for Appliances, Lighting, Electrical Distribution and Motors in 2005. In 2007 he was promoted to President & CEO EMEA of GE Consumer and Industrial. In 2008 Simonelli became GE's youngest ever division chief and the first non-American to run GE Transportation. In 2013, he was appointed president of GE's Oil and Gas division, which he ran until the division was merged with Baker Hughes Inc in 2017, becoming Baker Hughes, a GE Company (NYSE:BHGE). He became CEO of the newly formed company, and following GE's divestment from the company in 2019, has continued on as CEO of the independent

Baker Hughes Company Baker Hughes Company, organized in Delaware and headquartered in Houston, is one of the world's largest List of oilfield service companies, oil field services companies. The company provides products and services for oil well drilling, formation ...

(

NYSE The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed co ...

:BKR).

Awards and Recognition

Simonelli has been named in Fortune's Forty under Forty in 2009 and 2010. He was named as Petroleum Economist's CEO of the Year in 2019, and listed by ALLY's Energy Voice of 2020 as a leader in the

Energy Transition The energy transition is the process of Fossil fuel phase-out, downshifting fossil fuels and re-developing whole systems to operate on Low-carbon power, low carbon energy sources. More generally, an energy transition is a significant structura ...

Personal life

Simonelli is married, and lives in Houston, Texas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simonelli, Lorenzo American businesspeople American chief executives American energy industry executives 1973 births Living people People educated at Highgate School