Maarten Albert van den Bergh (born 19 April 1942 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) is a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

businessman. Van den Bergh is the son of Maria Meijers (1905–1957) and Sidney James van den Bergh, long-term chairman of

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

and Dutch

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in 1959. His grandfather

Samuel van den Bergh Samuel van den Bergh (6 April 1864, in Geffen – 4 February 1941, in Nice) was one of the main European Jewish margarine and soap manufacturers in the early 20th century. In 1888, the year his father, Simon van den Bergh, opened his first Ge ...

was one of the founders of Unilever. Van den Bergh spent 32 years at the multinational

oil company The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest volume products o ...

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

(also previously known as the "Royal Dutch / Shell Group"), where he rose to non-executive president of the "Royal Dutch Petroleum Company", one of the two parent companies (with "The Shell Transport and Trading Company") of the "Royal Dutch / Shell Group", and to vice-president (an executive position) of the committee of the managing directors of the "Royal Dutch / Shell Group". In 2001, he left Shell to become

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 ...

Lloyds TSB Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Established in Birmingham in 1765, Lloyds Bank e ...

, a

financial services Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...

company based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Board memberships: * Member of the Supervisory Board at Akzo Nobel NV starting in 2005; Deputy Chairman of Supervisory Board until May 2006; Chairman of Akzo Nobel's Supervisory Board from May 2006 to February 2009. * Deputy Chairman of BT Group Plc from 1 October 2006 to 15 July 2009; Non-Executive Director of BT Group Plc from 1 September 2000 to 15 July 2009; Non-Executive Director of British Telecom. * Vice Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of Royal Dutch/Shell Group of companies from 1998 to 2000; ** Member of Supervisory Board of Royal Dutch

Shell plc Shell plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and second ...

from 2000 to 4 July 2005; Non-Executive Director of Royal Dutch Shell Plc since October 2004 ** Non-Executive Director of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and served as its Member of the Supervisory Board since 2000. * Deputy Chairman of Lloyds Banking Group plc since 2000; Director of Lloyds TSB Bank Plc until 11 May 2006. * Independent Non-executive Director or International Consolidated Airlines Group, S.A. from July 2002 to January 2011 * Non-Executive Director of Lloyds Banking Group plc from 2000 to May 2006 In 2005,

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

named him the most powerful businessman in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

.Quiet Dutchman heads network of corporate talent (The Times)
/ref>

Notes

1942 births Living people Directors of Shell plc Chairmen of Lloyds Banking Group BT Group people Dutch businesspeople Dutch chief executives in the manufacturing industry Dutch corporate directors Dutch expatriates in the United Kingdom Dutch Jews Businesspeople from New York City {{Netherlands-business-bio-stub