Peter Robert Voser (born 29 August 1958) is a Swiss businessman, who is the chairman of the Swedish-Swiss company

ABB ABB Group is a Swedish-Swiss multinational electrical engineering corporation. Incorporated in Switzerland as ABB Ltd., and headquartered in Zurich, it is dual-listed on the Nasdaq Nordic exchange in Stockholm, Sweden, and the SIX Swiss Excha ...

. He was the

CEO 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 ...

of the Dutch-British corporation

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

from July 2009 to December 2013. He was interim CEO of ABB from April 2019 to February 2020. He started his career at Royal Dutch Shell in 1982, working in a number of finance and business roles in different countries. From 2002 to 2005 he was

chief financial officer A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...

for ABB and Royal Dutch Shell. In 2004, he was appointed Royal Dutch Shell's chief financial officer (CFO) and then CEO in July 2009.

Early life

Voser was born in

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

, Switzerland in 1958. From 1979 to 1982 he studied for a Business Administration degree from

Zurich University of Applied Sciences The Zürich University of Applied Sciences (, ZFH) is a governing body composed of four separate universities. It is located in the city of Winterthur, with facilities in Zürich and Wädenswil, is the second largest university in Switzerland a ...

, Switzerland.

Career

In 1982, at age 24, Voser joined Shell and held a variety of finance and business roles in Switzerland, the UK, Argentina and Chile, as well as chief financial officer of Oil Products. From 2002 to 2004, Voser was CFO and an executive committee member of the Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) Group of Companies. Voser is active in a number of international and bilateral organisations, including the

European Round Table of Industrialists The European Round Table for Industry (previously known as the European Round Table of Industrialists), abbreviated ERT, is a cross-sectoral forum and advocacy group in the European Union consisting of some 60 European industrial businesspeople wo ...

and The Business Council. In 2010, he became a director of

Catalyst Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...

, a non-profit organisation working to build inclusive environments and expand opportunities for women at work. Voser was CFO of Shell until mid-2009, when he became the company's CEO and was succeeded as CFO by Simon Henry. On 2 May 2013, it was announced that Voser would retire from Shell in the first half of 2014. On 17 April 2019, Voser was named interim Chief Executive Officer of ABB. and also Board Director in IBM since 2015.

Other activities

Government agencies

Economic Development Board The Economic Development Board (EDB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the government of Singapore that plans and executes strategies to sustain Singapore as a leading global hub for business and investment. H ...

(EDB) Singapore, Member of the International Advisory Council

Corporate boards

Temasek Holdings Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited ( ) is a Singaporean State ownership, state-owned multinational investment firm. Incorporated on 25 June 1974, Temasek has a net portfolio of US$288 billion (S$389 billion) as of 2024. Headquartered at Orchard ...

, Singapore Member of the Board of Directors (since 2015) *

PSA International PSA International Pte. Ltd., formerly the Port of Singapore Authority, is a global port operator and supply chain company. One of the largest port operators in the world, PSA's portfolio comprises over 70 deepsea, rail, and inland terminals. The ...

, Singapore, Chairman (since 2019) *

, Sweden, Chairman of the Board of Directors (since 2015) *

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

, USA, Member of the Board of Directors (since 2014)

Recognition

On 15 July 2011, His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei awarded Voser the Order of Paduka Seri Laila Jasa in recognition of his services to Brunei. In April 2022 Peter Voser was conferred the Honorary Citizen Award by the Singapore Government. * Order of Paduka Seri Laila Jasa Second Class (DSLJ) – Dato Seri Laila Jasa (15 July 2011)

Controversy

paid former chief executive Peter Voser £22m in his last years 2012–2013 through share awards and other performance-related bonuses while the company failed to perform well. Voser was responsible for the controversial projects of the US

oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich Granularity, fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of Organic compound, organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general compos ...

lands, the

Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitic ...

and the Arctic oil exploration.

Personal life

Voser is married to Daniela and has three children.Peter Voser biography at Shell.com
Since September 2013 he has been serving in the position of the chairman of the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies, replacing Josef Ackermann.International Students’ Committee
Changes in the Board of Trustees
retrieved 25 May 2012.

References

European Round Table of Industrialists – MembersCatalyst: Boards

External links

Meet Shell’s new CEO- Fortune magazine interview (8 Jul 2009)

Delivering energy through innovation – interview (10 Jan 2011)

Shell CEO keeps foot on accelerator – interview (14 Jun 2010)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Voser, Peter Robert 1958 births Living people People from Baden, Switzerland Directors of Shell plc Swiss chief executives Swiss expatriates in the Netherlands Chief financial officers Chief Executive Officers of Shell plc