Richard Adkerson

Richard Adkerson is the current president, CEO and vice chairman of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. with an established career in the mining sector. He has been in this role since January 2008. He is also known for his past role as chairman of the International Council on Mining and Metals.

Adkerson graduated with highest honours from Mississippi State University with a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1970. He also completed an advanced management program at Harvard Business School.

Adkerson started out as an accountant in the unpredictable oil and gas business throughout the 1970s before being offered his first role at Freeport in 1989. He was a partner and managing director at Arthur Andersen where he managed the company’s oil and gas industry division. Between 1976 and 1978, he was a professional accounting fellow with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C.

Adkerson was the past chairman of the International Council on Mining and Metals and is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, The Business Council, and the Business Roundtable. He serves on the advisory council of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States and as a member of the Clinton Global Initiative.

He serves on the board of directors of the Arizona Commerce Authority, Greater Phoenix Leadership, and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. He is vice chairman of the National World War II Museum, and also serves on the board of visitors of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Additionally, he is a member of the Mississippi State University Foundation’s board of directors.

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