
Samir Brikho
CEO of Foster Wheeler
Education
- Graduate of the Young Managers Programme - INSEAD
- Senior Executive Programme - Stanford University
Overview
Samir Brikho is a CEO of Foster Wheeler, Inc.(FWLT)
Samir Yacoub Brikho FREng is a Lebanese-Swedish Chairman of the Board of Directors at global fertilizer producer EuroChem Group AG. Brikho has previously held senior positions in many leading companies such as Asea, ABB Group, Alstom and Amec Foster Wheeler.
Brikho held various senior management positions at Asea and ABB Power Generation between 1983 and 2000, ultimately becoming a senior vice president and global managing director, steam turbines and generators, ABB Kraftwerke AG in Germany. In 2000, he moved to Alstom, where he was chief international operations officer and senior vice-president, and CEO of Alstom Kraftwerke in Germany.
In 2003 he became chief executive of ABB Lummus Global, and in 2005 he became a member of the group executive committee of ABB Ltd, head of the Power Systems Division at ABB Group.
He went on to be chief executive of Amec Foster Wheeler (formerly Amec) in October 2006. The company's share price rose from under 400 pence when he assumed the role of CEO in October 2006, to over 1,200 pence in June 2014. He served until 18 January 2016 and was succeeded by Ian McHoul, the chief financial officer.
On 19 December 2019, Eurochem Group AG, a global fertilizer producer, announced that Brikho would be assuming the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors, effective from 1 January 2020.
From 2020 to 2023 Brikho was Chairman of the Board of Directors of SUEK.
Early Life
Samir Yacoub Brikho Born in Beirut in 1958, Brikho is Lebanese by birth but his family later moved to Sweden, where he holds citizenship. Brikho holds a Master of Science degree in Thermal Technology from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. He is also a graduate of the Young Managers Programme at INSEAD and the Senior Executive Programme at Stanford University.
Career
- Foster Wheeler - CEO
Recognition
On 16 October 2009, Brikho was presented with the Medal of Honour for Industrial Service by South Korean President Myung-bak Lee for his contributions to enhance economic competitiveness in Korea through successful completion of the Incheon Bridge project.
Since being appointed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in February 2010, reconfirmed under David Cameron's coalition government, and again under Theresa May, Brikho served as a UK Business Ambassador to support successive British Governments in promoting the UK's excellence internationally, until the programme's cancellation in December 2018.
In July 2013 Mr Brikho was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. In June 2015, Brikho received an honorary doctorate from Cranfield University.