Niall FitzGerald KBE

Niall FitzGerald is the Deputy Chairman of Thomson Reuters following the creation of the new company in April 2008. Prior to this he was the Chairman of Reuters from October 2004, having spent over thirty years with Unilever in a variety of commercial and financial jobs in several countries. In the early 1980’s he became CEO of Unilever’s foods business in South Africa and thereafter returned to London as Unilever Group Treasurer.

Mr. FitzGerald joined the boards of Unilever plc and Unilever NV in 1987 and served respectively as Finance Director, Foods Director and Detergents Director until his appointment as Chairman and CEO in 1996 – he retired in Sept. 2004. During his Unilever career, he worked and lived in Ireland, the Netherlands, South Africa, the USA and the UK.

Board Mandates

Mr. FitzGerald joined the board of Reuters as a Non-Executive Director in 2003 and became Chairman in 2004. In April 2008 he became Deputy Co-Chairman of the newly formed company Thomson Reuters. In November 2008 he was appointed Chairman of Hakluyt & Co. Ltd. He was appointed Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the British Museum in 2006 and also co-Chairs the Investment Climate Facility (ICF) for Africa. Mr. FitzGerald is a member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum and also a Trustee of the Leverhulme Trust. He is a member of various advisory bodies, including the Advisory Board of Spencer Stuart.  He is a Senior Advisor to Allen & Co.

He has been Chairman of The Nelson Mandela Legacy Trust (UK) (2004-2008), The International Business Council of the World Economic Forum (2006-2008) and of The Conference Board (2003-2005), and Co-Chairman of the Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) (2004-2005). He has been Non-Executive Director of Merck (2000-2003), Ericsson (2000-2002), Bank of Ireland (1990-1999) and the Prudential Corporation (1992-1999). He has been President of the Advertising Association (2000-2005).  He has also been President of South Africa’s International Investment Advisory Council, a member of the International Advertising Board of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Kok Commission on the Lisbon Agenda, a member of the Accounting Standards Review Committee, Chairman of the CBI Europe Committee, and member of the International Policy Council for Agriculture and Trade.

Awards

Mr. FitzGerald was awarded an honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire in 2002, and holds a number of honorary doctorates from American, British and Irish universities.