The New Face of Royal Dutch Shell
Why would Royal Dutch Shell hire Jorma Ollila as its non-executive chairman? At first glance the news, announced on Aug. 4, seems like a shocker. But Ollila, who won't take the job until June 1, 2006, when he steps down as CEO of Finnish phone giant Nokia (NOK ), fills a number of needs for Shell (RDS.A and RDS.B ). As a Finn, Ollila will be a neutral national at a company that just united its sometimes scrappy British and Dutch wings on July 20.More important, Shell has embarked on a huge makeover, after a number of stumbles, including a reserves scandal that led to the ouster of CEO Philip Watts and two other top Shell executives last year. One of the world's best-known CEOs, Ollila should bring Shell cachet. He is also known for being highly ethical, which could help the oil giant polish its image.
Since Ollila, 54, became head of Nokia in 1992, he has transformed Finland's leading company from a money-losing $3.6 billion a year conglomerate making everything from cables to televisions to the world's leading mobile-phone maker, with annual sales of about $40 billion. While not an oilman, Ollila is a quick study, with an engineering and financial background. He once also worked at Citibank.
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