Wael Sawan

Wael Sawan (Arabic: وائل صوان ; born 1974) is a Lebanese-Canadian business executive, and the CEO of Shell plc since January 2023.

Early life
Sawan was born in Beirut in 1974. He grew up in Dubai, and earned a master's degree in chemical engineering from McGill University in Canada. He took a career break and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

He has dual Lebanese and Canadian nationality.

Career
Sawan joined Shell in 1997 as an engineer with Petroleum Development Oman. In the mid-2000s he was country chair in Qatar, overseeing the planning and early stages of the Pearl Gas-to-Liquids (GtL) project. He rose to become head of Shell's integrated gas and renewables division, and succeeded Ben van Beurden as CEO on 1 January 2023. In the summer of 2023 he announced that Shell will be dropping plans to cut oil production each year for the rest of the decade.

Sawan received a pay packet of £7.9 million ($10 million) for 2023, having become chief executive at the start of last year on an annual salary of £1.4 million.

Global Witness called such levels of pay “eyewatering … at a time when people are struggling to pay bills” and has hit out at levels of spending on renewable energy.

Personal life
Sawan is married to Nicole, and they have three sons.