INSIDER: How Jakob Stausholm became Rio Tinto’s great hope

Jakob Stausholm put his hand up to lead Rio Tinto with a strong conviction that he was the right man for the job — and an equally firm belief that he would never be picked for it.

In his heart of hearts, the Dane knew the board was focused on an external appointment given calls for fresh blood at the top in the wake of the Juukan Gorge disaster in May last year.

But he applied nevertheless, hoping his intimate knowledge of the global miner’s operations would give him a competitive edge during the pandemic. He knew border restrictions would make it near impossible for a newcomer to get up to speed quickly on Rio’s various projects — and there was no time to waste.

“At least I have been around and seen almost all our sites in the world, and therefore I thought this will make Rio be able to move much faster on our change journey,” Stausholm said.

“That was my conviction and I said ‘You’ve got to go for it’.”

His gut instinct was right and in December, Stausholm was announced as the successor to Jean-Sebastien Jacques. Jacques and two other executives resigned following Rio’s blasting of 46,000-year-old rock shelters in the Pilbara.

The incident devastated the traditional owners, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people, prompted a global backlash and sparked a Federal parliamentary inquiry.

In a wide-ranging interview, Stausholm spoke to The West Australian’s Insider magazine, out tomorrow, on his unexpected elevation from chief financial officer to chief executive of the world’s second-biggest miner.

Stausholm revealed he went through no less than 10 interviews during “some stressful months”.

“It was a very intense process ... but on the other hand it kind of focused my mind,” Stausholm said.

“It gave me a little bit of time to think through if I was prepared to do that, and the answer was yes.”

Stausholm also spoke about what he had achieved during his “necessary” trip Down Under, which saw him spend three of his first four months as chief executive based in WA.

While meeting with the PKKP at Juukan Gorge was a priority, the trip was more than an apology tour.

Stausholm also paid a visit to a number of former chief executives to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of Rio.

Read the full interview in the 32-page Insider magazine, free in Thursday’s The West Australian