UPM CEO Jussi Pesonen named European CEO of the Year
Simon Matthis
Fastmarkets RISI, the definitive source of commodity data and insights for the forest products industry, has announced that Jussi Pesonen, President and CEO of UPM, has been named the Fastmarkets RISI 2019 European CEO of the Year. Fastmarkets RISI will present this award at the European Conference, which will take place in Vienna, Austria on
The European CEO of the Year Award is nominated by a group of investment analysts, industry consultants and commentators covering the European and global pulp and paper industry.
Reasons cited by nominators of Jussi Pesonen to win the award were: "His diligent efforts in the transformation of UPM to a business that was primarily focused on paper production to one that has broadened its reach across the paper and pulp market.
To deliver on such a long-term project with such clear mindedness is admirable and should be seen as a leader of the industry that others can learn from."
Another made note of his "consistent delivery in providing shareholders stable returns in a volatile market."
Jussi Pesonen was appointed President and CEO of UPM-Kymmene Corporation in 2004. Under his leadership, the Finnish forest products company has increased operational efficiency and expanded its pulp and paper market investments beyond Europe, in Asian and Latin American emerging markets.
UPM has also invested interests into renewable and responsible products, marking themselves as The Biofore Company through production of products like renewable biofuels and wood plastic composites. UPM´s growing business is currently centered in high value fiber, specialty packaging materials and molecular bioproducts.
Under Jussi Pesonen's leadership, UPM has been listed as the forest and paper industry leader in the in the Dow Jones European and World Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for 2018-2019 for the sixth time. Recently, UPM was listed as the only company in the Paper and Forest Products category in the list of 100 most sustainable corporations by the Canadian-based Corporate Knights media and research company. This notoriety is determined by a company's meets economic, environmental, and social criteria.
When told of his award win, Jussi Pesonen commented, "I'm honored to receive this prestigious recognition from Fastmarkets RISI. My biggest thanks go to the fantastic team at UPM, who have made the success happen. UPM has a unique business model, it is a versatile and growing company with the industry leading balance sheet. Sustainable growth is absolutely vital in the modern business world regardless of the sector. UPM has achieved it by offering sustainable and safe products for growing global consumer demand, through focused growth projects along with transformative prospects for future earnings growth."
Before assuming the position as the CEO, Jussi Pesonen has held positions of Chief Operating Officer and Deputy to the President and CEO of UPM-Kymmene Corporation Paper Divisions 2001–2004. Prior, he held several management positions in the UPM Paper Divisions since joining the group in 1987.
Born November 24, 1960 in Helsinki, Finland, Jussi Pesonen attended Oulu University graduating with a Master of Science (M.Sc.) and Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) h.c. degree in Engineering.