Michael Alfred Chaney (born 15 April 1950) is an Australian businessman and former

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

Early life

Chaney was born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

on 15 April 1950. He was the third-youngest of seven children born to Frederick Charles Chaney, who was a minister in the Menzies government and

Lord Mayor of Perth __TOC__ The history of the City of Perth, a local government area of Western Australia is defined over three distinct periods: *From 1829 to 1838 — controlled by the Governor of Western Australia *From 1838 to 1858 — controlled by the ''Per ...

. His brothers included Frederick Michael Chaney, who was also a federal government minister, and John Chaney, a judge on the

Supreme Court of Western Australia The Supreme Court of Western Australia is the highest state court in the Australian State of Western Australia. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters (although it usually only hears matters involving sums of A$750, ...

. Chaney attended

Aquinas College, Perth , motto_translation = Truth ConquersMassam, p. 18 , location = Salter Point, Perth, Western Australia , country = Australia , patron = Saint Thomas Aquinas , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Perth , pushpin_image ...

, and the

. He completed a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in geology in 1972 and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

(MBA) in 1980. He attended the six-week Advanced Management Program at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

in 1992. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Western Australia.

Career

Chaney worked as a

petroleum geologist A petroleum geologist is an earth scientist who works in the field of petroleum geology, which involves all aspects of oil discovery and production. Petroleum geologists are usually linked to the actual discovery of oil and the identification of ...

for eight years. His first job in geology was with Burmah Oil, where he worked on the North West Shelf Venture. In 1974 he moved to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

, Texas, in the aftermath of the

1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had su ...

. After returning to Australia he joined the Australian Industry Development Corporation (AIDC) in 1980 and opened its Perth office. At AIDC he "helped organise financing for the multibillion-dollar North-West Shelf development, Delhi/Santos's gas fields in the Cooper Basin, coalmines and coal loaders" during the resources boom of the 1980s. Chaney became managing director of

Wesfarmers Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue o ...

in 1992, having previously served as company secretary and

chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and fina ...

. He oversaw the acquisition of Dalgety Farmers Ltd's pastoral business in 1993. The following year he announced that Wesfarmers had entered into a joint venture with Vietnamese firm

Petrolimex Petrolimex (PLX), formally the Vietnam National Petroleum Group (), is an industry group in Vietnam. Besides working in petroleum and natural gas, the company has significant subsidiaries active in the fields of insurance, transport and tradi ...

for a

liquefied petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cookin ...

plant in Vietnam, which was reportedly Wesfarmers' first major overseas investment. Chaney also oversaw Wesfarmers' acquisition of

Bunnings Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian household hardware chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings was founded in Perth, Weste ...

and divestment of its Landmark rural finance business. In 2001, the ''

Australian Financial Review ''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New Sou ...

'' reported that Wesfarmers'

market capitalisation Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by ...

had increased from $1.1 billion to $10 billion during Chaney's tenure and that he had "done something that has eluded most Australian chief executives: made a success of a conglomerate structure". Chaney was chairman of the

National Australia Bank National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB, branded nab) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "The Big Four") in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers. NAB was ranked 21st-la ...

from 2005 to 2015, Chairman of Woodside Petroleum until 2016 and has been chairman of

since 2013, a Director of the Centre for Independent Studies, and the former Chancellor of

the University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilities ...

, between 2005 and 2017. He was a director of BHP from 1995 to 2005 and a member of the

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, t ...

International Council from 2004 to 2015.

Honours

Chaney was appointed Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

on 14 June 2004 for service to the business sector through innovative leadership and management strategies, and to the community through involvement with and support for a broad range of artistic, cultural and scientific organisations.

References

External links

Business Council calls for cull on State powers
– interview transcript from ''AM''

- interview transcript from ''The World Today''
Interview with Michael Chaney, outgoing Wesfarmers CEO
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaney, Michael Australian chief executives People educated at Aquinas College, Perth Officers of the Order of Australia People from Perth, Western Australia University of Western Australia alumni Living people Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering University of Western Australia chancellors Wesfarmers people BHP people Petroleum geologists Australian geologists Australian chairpersons of corporations 1950 births