Jeff Rowe has been elected the new chief executive officer of Syngenta Group by the company’s board of directors, an Oct. 20 news release said. He will assume the role as of Jan. 1, 2024.
Rowe, 50, is currently president of Syngenta Crop Protection, which is Syngenta’s largest business unit. He previously was president of Syngenta Seeds where he turned the company’s seed business around, the release said. Prior to joining Syngenta, Rowe worked in several leadership roles at DuPont Pioneer over a 20-year period.
Erik Fyrwald, current Syngenta Group CEO, will continue as CEO until the end of the year when he will retire after seven and a half years with the company, the release noted. He will remain as advisor to the chairman of Syngenta Group and remain on the board of directors. Fyrwald has served as CEO since June 2016, during his tenure he oversaw the company’s acquisition by ChemChina, the formation of the Syngenta Group, and the growth of the business from Syngenta’s US$12.8 billion in 2016 to the Syngenta Group’s US$33.4 billion in 2022.
“With the strong foundation established by Erik, Jeff is the right CEO to lead Syngenta Group. The Board is pleased with the world-class, orderly and planned succession process and has found in Jeff a strong leader with the business acumen, operational skills and strategic vision needed to guide Syngenta Group in this critical industry,” Li Fanrong, chairman of Syngenta Group, said in the release.
“As a superb operational leader and strategist, able to deliver results through teamwork while building the business for tomorrow, Jeff has played a significant role in the growth of Syngenta Group,” Fyrwald said in the release. “I have worked with Jeff for many years and am delighted that he will lead Syngenta Group as it continues its mission to help farmers feed the world while addressing climate change.”
Syngenta also named a new CFO, Hengde Qin.
