She points out that the
miner doubled the number
of products it offers in
2019, from three to six,
including its first-ever ore
with a grade of higher than
60% purity. Greater effi-
ciency boosted Fortescue’s
average revenue per ton of
ore produced by 48%. And
some of those cost savings
came from Fortescue’s
fast-growing use of auton-
omous trucks to haul ore.
The auton omous fleet
travels more than 750,000
miles every month inside
its mines, or more than
twice the distance around
Australia per day.
Though Gaines, 56, grew
up in commodities-heavy
Western Australia, she
didn’t start her career in
mining. She worked in
private equity and served as
the CEO of travel company
Helloworld before joining
the board of Fortescue
in 2013. Gaines became
CFO in 2017 and, later that
same year, Fortescue’s
billionaire founder, Andrew
“Twiggy” Forrest, announced
she would soon become the
miner’s third chief execu-
tive. Her deputy CEO is also
a woman, as are 26% of
executives at the com-
pany overall and half of the
board. Women, says Gaines,
“are key to helping us reach
our stretch targets.”
Since Gaines joined
Fortescue, the company
has radically reduced its net
debt—from $10.5 billion in
2013 to just $500 million
last quarter. With the bal-
ance sheet under control,
Gaines is in investment
mode: plowing nearly
$4 billion into a pair of new
mine projects—one set to
begin production next year,
the other in 2022—that
will allow Fortescue to sell
more high-quality ore. That
should keep Fortescue out
front, even if prices retreat.
—Brian O’Keefe
Fortescue’s financial year
ending in June, Gaines’s
first full reporting period in
charge, revenues jumped
45% (to a record $9.97 bil-
lion) and profits rocketed
up 263% (to a record
$3.2 billion).
Some of that spectacular
performance can be at-
tributed simply to market
forces. Supply disrup-
tions in the global iron ore
market this year—including
a dam disaster at a mine
run by Brazilian giant Vale—
combined with stronger
than expected demand
from China caused prices
to spike from $75 per ton
in January to as high as
$122 in July, before plung-
ing back closer to $80. To
reduce costs, Chinese steel
mills shifted to Fortescue’s
products—which are of
a lower grade, and thus
cheaper, than the ore sold
by Vale and Anglo-Austra-
lian rivals Rio Tinto and BHP.
But Gaines is quick
to tick off reasons for
Fortescue’s success that
go beyond the price spike.
“Stretch targets,” she says
over the phone, with a soft
laugh, “have always been a
hallmark at Fortescue.”
S&P/ASX 200 INDEX
NOV. 1, 2016 NOV. 1, 2019
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100%
CHANGE IN
FORTESCUE
METALS STOCK
PRICE
(TOTAL RETURNS)
79
FORTUNE.COM // DECEMBER 2019
GET TING THE BASICS RIGHT Chipotle CEO Niccol.
CHALLENGE
REENGAGING CUSTOMERS
Brian Niccol’s favorite food is spaghetti
Bolognese.
That may seem like an odd choice, given that
he’s spent his career reimagining fast food for
the masses, first at Procter & Gamble—where
he helped develop niche Pringles flavors—and
then at Yum Brands, where he worked on Pizza
Hut and helped turn around Taco Bell. And
now, Niccol runs Chipotle Mexican Grill, the
once beleaguered chain that has, under his
watch, again become a Wall Street darling.
But growing up in a “big Italian family,”
spaghetti was a beloved staple—and a classic
BRIAN
NICCOL
CEO CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL
Big Gains Down Under
SH
AU
GH
N^ A
ND
JO
HN
PHOTOGRAPH BY CLAIRE MARTIN
