Yousef Abdullah Albenyan

Biography

Yousef Abdullah Al-Benyan is Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SABIC, the world’s fourth-largest diversified petrochemicals company. Headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, SABIC has 35,000 employees worldwide. Mr. Al-Benyan joined SABIC in 1987, just eleven years after the company’s formation. His first role was as a business development specialist before joining Corporate Communications. Mr. Al-Benyan relocated to Stamford, Connecticut as Operations Manager. In 1994, he became Commercial Manager for SABIC in the USA and Latin America, based in Houston, Texas. In 2002, he was promoted to General Manager of SABIC Asia, headquartered in Singapore. He made significant contributions to SABIC growth in Asia, especially in China. Mr. Al-Benyan returned to Houston in the fall of 2005 as the General Manager of SABIC Americas. Then, in 2007, he took on the role of General Manager at Fiber Intermediates, before being named in February 2008 to head Corporate Human Resources. As Chairman of the ‘1 SABIC’ global unification initiative, he reorganized the company’s business structure with a new, single, global organization and operating model, moving from a responsive, transactional entity to a proactive, strategic global organization. In 2013, Mr. Al-Benyan was named to head SABIC’s Chemicals business, the company’s largest unit, to help SABIC achieve its goal of becoming the preferred global leader in chemicals by 2025. Prior to being named Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Al-Benyan also served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance and CFO. Other positions he holds include Chairman of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), Chairman of the Boards at Yanbu National Petrochemical Company (Yansab), the Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Company (SAFCO) and Saudi Iron and Steel Company (HADEED), as well as Chairman of the Petrochemical Manufacturers Committee. He is a member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum and Global Business Council of the Bloomberg Global Forum. He also sits on the Board of Directors of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), the Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu, and the Saudi Ports Authority. Mr. Al-Benyan is also a member of the King Saud University Advisory Board, as well as a member of the King Fahad University & Minerals International Advisory Board. He is a board member of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, the National Industrial Clusters Development Program, and an Executive Committee member of the Riyadh Economic Forum at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Al-Benyan holds an Economics degree and a Master in Industrial Management, in addition to several specialized executive management courses.

Research Interest

Industrial Management, economics