Jac Nasser, the former chief executive of Ford, is to become chairman of BHP Billiton, taking over from Don Argus who has been chairman of the group since 2001 and will step down next year.

福特(Ford)前首席执行官雅克•纳赛尔(Jac Nasser)将接替安德(Don Argus)，出任必和必拓(BHP Billiton)董事长。安德从2001年起担任该集团董事长，将于明年离任。

Mr Nasser has been on the board of BHP Billiton since 2006 as a non-executive director and is a member of the board's risk and audit committee.

自2006年以来，纳赛尔一直在必和必拓董事会担任非执行董事，而且是董事会风险与审计委员会的成员。

He spent 33 years at Ford, where he became president and chief executive officer, and was renowned both for his abrasive style and ruthless attitude to cost-cutting, earning him the sobriquet of “Jac the Knife”.

他曾在福特效力33年，最终担任福特总裁兼首席执行官，以粗放的风格和对成本削减的无情态度而著称，由此获得“雅克利刃”(Jac the Knife)的绰号。

He is also a director of British Sky Broadcasting, a partner at One Equity Partners, JPMorgan's private equity division, and sits on the international advisory board of Allianz.

同时，他还是英国天空广播公司(British Sky Broadcasting)的董事、摩根大通(JPMorgan)私人股本部门One Equity Partners的合伙人，以及安联(Allianz)国际顾问委员会的成员。

“He combines deep international business knowledge along with outstanding financial, senior management and board experiences,” said John Buchanan, BHP's senior independent director, who helped lead the search.

帮助物色人选的必和必拓高级独立董事约翰•布坎南(John Buchanan)表示：“他不但拥有深厚的国际商业知识，还有杰出的金融、高级管理和董事会经验。”

Mr Nasser was chosen from a shortlist of candidates selected over a period of 18 months with the help of Heidrick & Struggles, the recruitment company.

纳赛尔是从一份入围候选人名单中挑选出来的。必和必拓在招聘公司海得思哲(Heidrick & Struggles)的帮助下，花了18个月时间挑选出这些候选人。

He was elected by the unusual method of a secret ballot among the 15 board members to prevent lobbying by candidates. The ballot was managed by KPMG, BHP's auditor.

为阻止候选人的游说，15名董事会成员进行了不寻常的无记名投票，最终选出纳赛尔。投票由必和必拓的审计师毕马威(KPMG)安排。

Mr Nasser is believed to have beaten competition for the job from other board members including John Schubert, chairman of Commonwealth Bank of Australia. David Morgan, former chief executive of Westpac, was also rumoured to have been considered for the post.

据信，纳赛尔击败了其他董事会成员对该职位的竞逐，包括澳大利亚联邦银行(Commonwealth Bank of Australia)董事长约翰•舒伯特(John Schubert)。据传，必和必拓还曾考虑过澳大利亚西太平洋银行(Westpac)前首席执行官大卫•摩根(David Morgan)出任此职。

译者/董琴