FMC Corporation announces new president and CEO

FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC) today announced that its Board of Directors has elected Mark Douglas as president and chief executive officer of FMC, effective June 1, 2020.  Pierre Brondeau will continue to serve as chairman and CEO through May 31, 2020, at which time he will become executive chairman and remain a member of the Board of Directors. 

 

"Mark has been elected following the Board's careful and thorough assessment of the experience, track record and leadership qualities needed to lead FMC," said Brondeau.  "He has been a trusted partner during a period of significant change.  During the last decade, Mark has been engaged on every major decision and strategic action we pursued to transform FMC into a high growth agricultural sciences company.  His more than 30 years of global business and operational experience in the chemical industry, including most of the last 10 years leading FMC's agricultural business, makes him ideally suited as our next CEO," Brondeau added.

 

"I am honored to be elected president and CEO of this great company," said Douglas.  "Pierre, along with our management team and more than 6,500 employees, have transformed FMC into an agricultural sciences leader.  I look forward to working with our leadership and the Board as we drive the full potential of FMC and continue delivering industry-leading performance that customers, shareholders and employees expect from us."

 

Vincent Volpe, lead independent director on the FMC Board, said the company's performance and business results during Brondeau's tenure have been dramatic.

 

"Upon his arrival in 2010, Pierre saw the significant growth potential of FMC and charted a new course that would eventually transform the company.  His vision reshaped nearly every aspect of the enterprise, including the business portfolio, operating structure, and a culture of high performance," Volpe said.  "A decade of results speak for themselves:  More than a dozen acquisitions and divestitures; two of the largest transactions in company history, including the 2017 acquisition of a majority of DuPont's crop protection assets; total shareholder return of more than 325 percent; nearly 90 percent reduction in the company's recordable injury rate; and the transformation into a leading, global crop protection innovator.  The Board looks forward to Pierre's guidance as executive chairman, and we know that as CEO, Mark will continue to lead FMC with the conviction, passion and strategic foresight that have guided the company's success."

 

Douglas becomes FMC president and CEO-elect, effective today.  He will work with Brondeau and the Board during the next five months on an orderly transition.  The Board expects to nominate Douglas for election as a Board director at the April 2020 annual meeting of stockholders. 

 

 

Mark Douglas has served as president and chief operating officer of FMC since June 2018.  He leads the company's commercial, operational and technology organizations.  He joined FMC in March 2010 as vice president, Global Operations and International Development, and was named president of the Industrial Chemicals Group in 2011.  In October 2012, Mr. Douglas was named president of the Agricultural Solutions business.  Mr. Douglas joined FMC from The Dow Chemical Company where he was vice president, president Asia, Dow Advanced Materials.  Prior to Dow, he was corporate vice president, president Asia, Rohm and Haas Company, based in Shanghai.  During his 21 years with Rohm and Haas, Mr. Douglas held sales, marketing and executive management positions in London, Singapore, Shanghai and Philadelphia.

 

Mr. Douglas is a director of Quaker Houghton.  He is also a member of the Crop Life International Board of Directors and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.