Hugh Grant (born 23 March 1958) is a Scottish business executive, who was the last CEO of

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in ...

until its acquisition by Bayer.

Early life

Grant was born in

Larkhall Larkhall ( sco, Larkhauch, gd, Taigh na h-Uiseig) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, around southeast of Glasgow. It is twinned with Seclin in northern France. Larkhall sits on high ground between the River Clyde to the East and the ...

, Scotland. He received a bachelor's degree in agricultural

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

and

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

from the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, a

postgraduate degree Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...

in agriculture from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, and an

MBA 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 ...

from the International Management Centre in Buckingham, England.

Career

He worked in Scotland from 1981 to 1991 for the then US-based

company and then was appointed global strategy director in the agriculture division, based in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. In 1995, he became managing director for the company's Asia-Pacific region and in 1998, co-president of the agriculture division. The 20th-century Monsanto Company, in the midst of a roughly five-year series of mergers and

spin-offs Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

(which had the effect of reducing its focus on

chemicals A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...

in favor of biotechnology), legally ceased to exist in 2000. A new Monsanto Company was created and Grant became executive

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

and

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if ...

of this new Monsanto. In 2003, he became president and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

and joined the board of directors. In March 2009, Grant was named one of the world's 30 most respected CEOs on ''Barron's'' annual list. He was named 2010 CEO of the Year by ''

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

'' magazine. In 2009, Grant earned a total compensation of $10,803,757, which included a base salary of $1,391,356, a cash bonus of $1,070,382, stocks granted of $1,875,766, options granted of $5,902,039, and other compensation of $564,214. He became a director of the Harris Distillery in 2014. In March 2018, Grant announced that after being acquired by Bayer, he would leave the company and he received a pay-off of approximately $77m post-sale.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Hugh 1958 births Living people Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Glasgow Businesspeople in agriculture People from Larkhall PPG Industries people Scottish agronomists Scottish chief executives Scottish emigrants to the United States Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Monsanto employees American chief operating officers American chief executives American corporate directors British corporate directors American agronomists