https://arab.news/zw8uw
Bob Wilt is the newly appointed CEO of Ma’aden, Saudi Arabia’s leading mining company valued at $26.9 billion.
Born in the US, Wilt brings to his new role almost 30 years of experience in engineering, mining and multinational corporate management to join Ma’aden during a phase of rapid expansion as the company seeks out untapped mineral deposits across the Kingdom with the aim of contributing to Vision 2030’s shift away from oil dependency.
Ma’aden’s latest figures show annual revenues of $4.95 billion, making it one of Saudi Arabia’s top 10 companies and among the world’s fastest-growing mining corporations.
Before joining Ma’aden, Wilt worked at Sofina Foods Inc., a privately owned meat and seafood processing company with 44 sites in Canada and Europe, where he served as president and CEO from 2019 to 2021.
Prior to that, in 2017, Wilt worked at PCC Metals Group, a subsidiary of Precision Castparts Corp. of Cleveland, which built large structural castings and aircraft/rocket fasteners among other high-end metal products.
During his time there, Wilt managed 7,200 employees across 22 sites in the US, Europe and Australia, focusing on titanium and alloy products for the global aero, defense, energy and industrial markets, with revenues of $2.5 billion.
Wilt began his mining career as a production supervisor at mining corporation Alcoa, ultimately becoming their executive vice president in 2013. In this role, he led the company’s upstream business, consisting of the world’s largest bauxite mining and alumina refining system. Wilt’s management portfolio at Alcoa included 47 locations in 12 countries and 16,000 employees.
Having graduated from West Point Military Academy with a bachelor’s degree in engineering management, Wilt gained his MBA from Harvard Business School, then proceeded to join the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division, where he served as a combat engineer officer and platoon leader.
Wilt spent time in the Kingdom during the Gulf War, planning and leading combat engineering missions and supervising the construction of two base camps.
Wilt should be in familiar territory in his new role, as his former company Alcoa retains a 25 percent stake in a $10.8 billion joint venture with Ma’aden to extract and process phosphate in the Kingdom.