Change forced at Air Products

Industrial gases giant Air Products has named Eduardo Menezes (pictured) as its new CEO, with Seifi Ghasemi leaving after more than ten years.  Menezes has had a long career with competitor firms Praxair and Linde and was most recently EVP for Linde in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.  

This follows a six-month proxy battle, in which ‘activist investor’ Mantle Ridge had criticised the lack of a CEO succession plan, relatively weak shareholder returns and Air Products’ failure to secure off-take agreements before beginning large clean hydrogen projects.  Ghasemi lost his bid for re-election to the board on 23 January alongside lead director Edward Monser and Charles Cogut, while Mantle Ridge won three seats. 

Among them is CEO Pau Hilal, who invested $2.2 billion investment in Air Products as a partner at Pershing Square Capital Management and pushed Ghasemi’s appointment as CEO in 2024. Another new director is Dennis Reilley, former chairman, president and CEO of Praxair, who has been named vice chairman. The board has also appointed Wayne Smith, former chairman and CEO of BASF North America and a director since 2021, as chairman.