Fresh from the B20 Summit of global business leaders in Sydney, B20 Chair and Wesfarmers Managing Director Richard Goyder will reflect on the outcomes of the summit and address the need for Australia to “walk the talk” on providing the right environment for business to drive growth, employment and prosperity. As the head of the nation’s biggest private sector employer and the owner of some of Australia’s biggest retailers, he will also discuss why the National Competition Review must resist the danger of turning back the deregulatory reform of the past three decades.
Richard Goyder AO joined Wesfarmers in 1993 after working in various commercial roles at Tubemakers of Australia Limited. He held a number of commercial positions in Wesfarmers Business Development Department including General Manager. In 1999 Richard was Managing Director of Wesfarmers Dalgety Limited, which subsequently became Wesfarmers Landmark Limited, a position he retained until his appointment as Finance Director of Wesfarmers Limited in 2002.
He was appointed Deputy Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of Wesfarmers Limited in May 2004 and assumed the role of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer on 13 July 2005.
In 2007, Richard transformed Wesfarmers with the successful acquisition of the Coles Group of companies. At more than $19 billion, this purchase was, and remains, the biggest transaction in Australian corporate history. Wesfarmers is now a top 10 Australian company, it has more than 500,000 shareholders and with a workforce of more than 200,000 people is the country’s largest private sector employer.
Richard joined the Board of Wesfarmers Limited in 2002 and is a director of a number of Wesfarmers group subsidiaries.
Outside of his Wesfarmers group board commitments, Richard is an Australian Football League Commissioner, a director of the Business Council of Australia, and of the University of Western Australia Business School Advisory Board. Richard was appointed Chairman of the Australian B20 (the key business advisory body to the international economic forum which includes business leaders from all G20 economies) in February 2013. He is also a member of the Centre for Workplace Leadership Advisory Group, a Council Member of the Australian Business and Community Network, and an Advisory Council Member of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He is a Fellow of the AICD.
Richard holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and has been awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia. He completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School in 1998.
Richard was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2013 for distinguished service to business through executive roles and through the promotion of corporate sponsorship of the arts and Indigenous programs, and to the community.
