Brandon Craig will become BHP's chief executive officer on 1 July 2026, taking the reins from Mike Henry who departs after six and a half years. Craig, who currently leads BHP's Americas operations across Canada, the United States and South America, has worked at the mining giant for 25 years.
Henry oversaw a major reshaping of BHP's portfolio, including the exit from petroleum and a shift towards future-facing commodities such as copper and potash. Average total shareholder returns were approximately 17 per cent per annum, and BHP returned approximately US$80 billion to shareholders during his tenure.
During Craig's time in the Americas role, BHP became the world's largest copper producer. Prior to this, Craig led the Western Australia iron ore business, improving operational performance and increasing BHP's lead as the lowest cost, highest margin major iron ore producer in the world.
Analysts see Craig's promotion as a continuity play rather than a sharp strategic pivot. According to RBC Capital Markets, the CEO transition "appears more evolutionary than transformational", with the appointment of an internal candidate reinforcing continuity as the company enters the execution phase of its copper-led growth strategy.
BHP is seeking to embark on a new leg of growth in copper and potash while managing a slowdown in iron ore. This challenge sits at the heart of Craig's brief. The company remains heavily weighted toward iron ore from its Western Australia operations, but copper and potash represent higher-margin, more resilient earnings sources as global demand shifts. Whether Craig can accelerate that transition without stumbling on capital discipline will shape investor confidence in the months ahead.
Craig will start on a base salary of US$1.9 million, plus bonuses. BHP chair Ross McEwan said Craig's "discipline and focus will continue to drive BHP's high-performance culture and advance the company's unrivalled pipeline of growth options to maximise shareholder returns." For Australian investors and the economy, the appointment signals stable stewardship of one of the country's most consequential corporations at a time of global commodity volatility.