Lorenzo Simonelli is the

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

, President and

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Baker Hughes Baker Hughes Company is an American global energy technology company co-headquartered in Houston, Texas and London, UK. As one of the world's largest oil field services, industrial and energy technology companies, it provides products and serv ...

, an

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

company.

Early life and education

Simonelli is originally from Tuscany, Italy, 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. Simonelli holds a

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

in Business and Economics from

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

, 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 hono ...

in Chemical Sciences from the

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

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

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

, 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 (

NYSE The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

: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 An energy transition (or energy system transformation) is a major structural change to energy supply and consumption in an energy system. Currently, a transition to sustainable energy is underway to limit climate change. Most of the sustainab ...

Personal life

Simonelli is married, and lives in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

References

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