Christopher James Lynch is an Australian businessman who is currently a director of

Westpac Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney, New South Wales. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, ...

. He is a former chief financial officer and board member of Anglo-Australian resources companies

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, ...

and

BHP Billiton BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

, and a CEO of

Transurban Transurban is a road operator company that manages and develops urban toll road networks in Australia, Canada and the United States. It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Transurban is the full owner of CityLink in Melbour ...

. Lynch was a member of the

AFL Commission The AFL Commission is the official governing body of the Australian Football League Limited (AFL), its subsidiaries and controlled entities. Richard Goyder has been chairman since 4 April 2017, replacing Mike Fitzpatrick. It was formed in 198 ...

between 2008 and 2014. He played five matches for Geelong Football Club in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL, now AFL).

Early life and education

Lynch was born in Broken Hill in Western

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

(NSW) in 1953. His grandfather, Paddy O'Neill, was a notable union leader in Broken Hill. Lynch completed a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) degree at the Gordon Institute of Technology (later known as Deakin University). He later completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

. He is member of

CPA Australia CPA Australia ("Certified Practising Accountant") is a professional accounting body in Australia founded in 1886. As of 31 December 2020, it has 168,736 members working in 150 countries and regions around the world. CPA Australia currently has 1 ...

. Lynch was a keen cricketer, representing Geelong against several international touring teams. He played three matches in

Victorian Premier Cricket Victorian Premier Cricket is a club cricket competition in the state of Victoria administered by Cricket Victoria. Each club fields four teams (firsts through to fourths) of adult players and usually play on weekends and public holidays. Match ...

for

Essendon Cricket Club Essendon Cricket Club is an Australian cricket club competing in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition. The club was first established in 1872. The club trains and plays at Windy Hill, Essendon, former training ground and administrative base ...

during the 1982–83 season.

Australian rules football career

After moving from Broken Hill, where he played for the North Broken Hill Football Club, Lynch played for Geelong Football Club, making his debut in the

(VFL, now AFL) in 1972. He played twice in 1972 and a further three times in 1974. He was a member of the Geelong team that won the VFL reserves premiership in 1975.

Business life

Lynch joined Alcoa in 1979, where he rose through the levels, becoming chief financial officer, Alcoa Europe, in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

, Switzerland. He was also managing director of KAAL Australia Ltd, a joint venture company formed by Alcoa and

Kobe Steel Kobe Steel, Ltd. (株式会社神戸製鋼所, ''Kabushiki gaisha Kōbe Seikō-sho''), is a major Japanese steel manufacturer headquartered in Chūō-ku, Kobe. KOBELCO is the unified brand name of the Kobe Steel Group. Kobe Steel has the low ...

. In 1999, Lynch was appointed vice president and chief information officer. In 2000, Lynch was head-hunted by

as chief financial officer of the company's Minerals Group. He became chief financial officer of the group in September 2001. Lynch was appointed an executive director of BHP Billiton and member of its board in January 2006. He was subsequently appointed as group president of BHP Billiton's Carbon Steel Materials division in April 2006. After being passed over for the BHP Billiton CEO role, Lynch retired from the company in June 2007. Lynch became CEO of

in 2008, serving in the role until 2012. He was elected a member of the

at the end of 2007, retiring from the role in 2014. In 2011, Lynch was appointed to the

board as a non-executive director. He was the chief financial officer of Rio Tinto from April 2013 to September 2018. In 2020, Lynch joined the board of Australian bank

References

External links

BHP Billiton Our Board
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Christopher 1953 births Living people Geelong Football Club players Australian rules footballers from New South Wales North Broken Hill Football Club players Deakin University alumni Australian chief executives Chief financial officers BHP people