FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC) today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Pierre Brondeau as chief executive officer, in addition to his role as board chairman. He takes over from Mark Douglas, who has stepped down as president and CEO after more than 14 years with the company. Additionally, Ronaldo Pereira has been named president of FMC Corporation. Both Brondeau and Pereira will assume their new roles immediately, with Douglas serving as an executive advisor to the senior management team until September 1.
Brondeau was previously chairman and CEO of FMC from 2010 until his retirement in June 2020 and has continued to serve as chairman of the board over the past four years. Under his leadership, FMC experienced significant growth, transforming into a leader in agricultural sciences. During his previous tenure as CEO, FMC undertook major M&A transactions, increased R&D investments, and expanded into new geographies, delivering a total shareholder return of more than 325% from 2010 to 2020.
“Pierre is a respected executive in the chemical and specialty materials industries with a proven track record of delivering strong, consistent earnings performance,” said C. Scott Greer, lead independent director of the FMC board. “He is well known and highly regarded by FMC’s executive management team, many of whom worked closely with Pierre during his previous tenure as CEO. The board is confident that the transition will be seamless and that Pierre is the right leader to drive FMC forward.”
Pereira has been with FMC for nearly 28 years, most recently serving as executive vice president and president of the Americas region. As FMC president, Pereira will have expanded responsibilities, including executive oversight for all commercial, sales, and marketing globally, as well as overseeing the Sustainability, External Affairs, Regulatory, and Marketing functions. He will also retain oversight of the Plant Health business.
“Ronaldo is a highly respected crop protection industry veteran with broad commercial experience and a successful track record of building and growing our business throughout Latin America and North America,” said Brondeau. “He is passionate about this industry and our customers. I look forward to working closely with him to aggressively drive profitable growth this year while continuing to execute our longer-term growth strategy.”
“Mark Douglas’ leadership, vision, and commitment to bringing the best technologies and products to the agricultural industry have left a lasting, positive mark on FMC,” said Greer. “During his tenure, he transformed FMC into a global crop protection leader driven by innovation, operational agility, and a customer-first model. Mark dramatically strengthened FMC’s technology pipeline, launched novel precision agriculture technologies, and built a new Plant Health business featuring the latest biological and pheromone solutions. Under his leadership as CEO, the company successfully navigated the impacts of an unprecedented pandemic, delivered industry-leading safety performance, and announced aggressive new sustainability targets. The board extends its gratitude and appreciation to Mark for his 14 years of unwavering commitment and leadership to FMC.”
Brondeau commented, “FMC is a strong company with a deep R&D pipeline, a broad and robust product portfolio, strong operating discipline, and a highly experienced management team. The company has a bright future, and I look forward to working with our leadership to bring the best crop protection products and services to our customers while delivering exceptional financial performance.
