Jeff Rowe New Chief Executive Officer of Syngenta Group
Jeff Rowe will become Syngenta Group's CEO on January 1, 2024, transitioning from his current role as President of Syngenta Crop Protection. The current CEO, Erik Fyrwald, will retire at the end of the year after almost seven and a half years with the company. After retiring, Fyrwald will act as an Advisor to the Chairman of Syngenta Group and retain his position on the Board of Directors.
Jeff Rowe, who has been with Syngenta since 2016, previously led a successful turnaround in the Seeds business and now heads the crop protection division, while also driving Syngenta Group's regenerative agriculture and soil health efforts. Prior to Syngenta, he held leadership roles at DuPont Pioneer for two decades.
Rowe's appointment as CEO was based on his 30 years of diverse agriculture experience and his unique perspective as a fifth-generation farmer. Rowe will take over from Fyrwald, who led Syngenta since June 2016. During Fyrwald's tenure, the company grew from $12.8 billion in 2016 to $33.4 billion in 2022, and he championed global food security, sustainability, and regenerative agriculture.
“Erik has provided outstanding leadership for Syngenta Group, steering it with steady hands through global pandemic, conflicts and challenging geopolitics while substantially transforming and growing the company,” said Li Fanrong, Chairman of Syngenta Group. “We will always be grateful for his thoughtful, energetic and dynamic leadership of our Group during its transition. And it is Erik’s leadership in developing a strong team that leads naturally to our next phase. With the strong foundation established by Erik, Jeff is the right CEO to lead Syngenta Group. The Board is pleased with the world-class, orderly and planned succession process and has found in Jeff a strong leader with the business acumen, operational skills and strategic vision needed to guide Syngenta Group in this critical industry.”
“As a superb operational leader and strategist, able to deliver results through teamwork while building the business for tomorrow, Jeff has played a significant role in the growth of Syngenta Group,” said Fyrwald. “I have worked with Jeff for many years and am delighted that he will lead Syngenta Group as it continues its mission to help farmers feed the world while addressing climate change.”
