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Baker Hughes Company

Energy Technology and Oilfield ServicesFounded 1987
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: October 2026

Leadership History

Baker Hughes: CEO History

6 leaders · 1987 to present

Who is the CEO of Baker Hughes?

Lorenzo Simonelli is the CEO of Baker Hughes, in the role since 2017. The first chief executive was James D. Woods, from 1987.

Current CEO
Lorenzo Simonelli (since 2017)
First CEO
James D. Woods (1987)
Leaders documented
6
Founded
1987
NameRoleFromToYears in role
Lorenzo SimonelliChairman, President and Chief Executive Officer2017Present9
Martin CraigheadChairman and Chief Executive Officer201220175
Chad C. DeatonChairman, President and Chief Executive Officer200420128
Michael E. WileyChairman, President and Chief Executive Officer200020044
Max L. LukensChairman, President and Chief Executive Officer199720003
James D. WoodsChairman, President and Chief Executive Officer1987199710
Who was CEO of Baker Hughes before Lorenzo Simonelli?
Martin Craighead was CEO of Baker Hughes from 2012 to 2017, before Lorenzo Simonelli took over in 2017.

Company Overview

Baker Hughes does not own oil and gas; it supplies the equipment, services and software used to find, produce and process it, and increasingly the turbomachinery used to liquefy and move gas and to generate power. The company conducts business in more than 120 countries and employed about 56,000 people at the end of 2025, with more than 45,000 of them working outside the United States. Customers include national oil companies such as Saudi Aramco, ADNOC, Kuwait Oil Company and Petroleum Development Oman, majors including ExxonMobil, and LNG developers such as Cheniere and NextDecade. Headquarters are at 575 N. Dairy Ashford Road in Houston, with major engineering and manufacturing operations in Florence, Italy, inherited from GE Oil and Gas. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Lorenzo Simonelli

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

2017 – Present

9 years (current)

Key Decisions & Impact

Completed the GE separation, repositioned the portfolio around gas technology and industrial equipment, guided IET to a 20% EBITDA margin target, and acquired Chart Industries while divesting Precision Sensors and Instrumentation and surface pressure control.

Legacy

Lorenzo Simonelli has been a director, president and chief executive since the GE Oil and Gas combination closed in July 2017 and chairman since October 2017. He joined GE in 1994, led GE Transportation from July 2008 and GE Oil and Gas from October 2013. Under his leadership the company completed the separation from GE, which ended as an economic interest during 2022, moved its listing to Nasdaq in December 2021, and reorganised four product companies into the OFSE and IET segments in 2022. FY2025 produced record adjusted EBITDA of $4,825M on $27,733M of revenue, record orders of $29,585M and record free cash flow of $2,732M, with a record $35.9B of remaining performance obligations. In 2026 he closed the $13.6 billion Chart Industries acquisition, set it up as a third reporting segment, and sold the Precision Sensors and Instrumentation business to Crane Company while putting surface pressure control into a joint venture with a Cactus, Inc. subsidiary.

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Martin Craighead

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

2012 – 2017

5 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Signed the 2014 Halliburton agreement, defended it through Justice Department litigation, and after it collapsed agreed the 2017 combination with GE Oil and Gas.

Legacy

Martin Craighead joined Baker Hughes in 1986, became president in July 2010, chief executive in January 2012 and chairman in April 2013. He agreed the $34.6 billion sale to Halliburton announced in November 2014, led the company through the 2014 to 2016 oil price collapse and the antitrust fight that ended when the deal was abandoned on May 1, 2016 and Halliburton paid a $3.5 billion termination fee. He then negotiated the combination with GE Oil and Gas and served as vice chairman of Baker Hughes, a GE company, until 2019.

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Chad C. Deaton

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

2004 – 2012

8 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Exited WesternGeco in 2006 and acquired BJ Services in 2010, accepting a Justice Department divestiture of Gulf of Mexico vessel stimulation assets to clear the deal.

Legacy

Chad C. Deaton joined Baker Hughes from Hanover Compressor and served as chairman, president and chief executive from October 2004 until January 2012, then as executive chairman from 2012 to 2013. He sold the 30% WesternGeco stake to Schlumberger for $2.4 billion in 2006, concentrating capital on drilling, evaluation and completion technology, and bought BJ Services for $5.5 billion in a deal that closed in April 2010 and added pressure pumping and cementing.

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Michael E. Wiley

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

2000 – 2004

4 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Restructured the divisional portfolio after the 2000 management change and set up the handover to an external successor in 2004.

Legacy

Michael E. Wiley, previously president and chief operating officer of Atlantic Richfield, became president, chairman and chief executive of Baker Hughes effective August 14, 2000. He was recruited to restore confidence after the Lukens departure and reviewed the division portfolio, weighing fixes and sales of underperforming segments. He retired in 2004 and handed over to Chad C. Deaton on October 25, 2004.

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Max L. Lukens

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

1997 – 2000

3 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Agreed the 1998 Western Atlas merger and the 2000 contribution of Western Geophysical into the WesternGeco seismic joint venture with Schlumberger.

Legacy

Max L. Lukens joined Baker Hughes in 1981 and served as chairman, president and chief executive from 1997 until January 2000. His tenure covered the $5.5 billion Western Atlas merger agreed in May 1998, which added seismic acquisition and the Baker Atlas wireline business. He resigned in January 2000 after weak share performance and an earnings restatement, and director Joe B. Foster served as interim chairman, president and chief executive until August 2000.

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James D. Woods

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

1987 – 1997

10 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Completed the 1987 merger under a consent decree, relocated the head office to Houston, and ran the 1987 cost reduction programme. Led the 1990 purchase of Eastman Christensen, which added directional drilling and measurement-while-drilling.

Legacy

James D. Woods was chief executive of Baker International and became chief executive of Baker Hughes Incorporated when the merger with Hughes Tool was formally completed in early April 1987. He had sued Hughes Tool in March 1987 to force it back to the table after it walked away from the deal, and he agreed to sell Baker units, including the submersible pump and tricone bit divisions, to satisfy Justice Department antitrust objections. He moved the executive staff from Orange, California, to Houston in February 1987 and began cutting costs immediately after closing, with 850 layoffs and voluntary resignations announced by June 1987.

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Challenges & Strategic Context

The oilfield half of the business tracks drilling activity, and in FY2025 that worked against it: OFSE revenue fell 8% to $14,324M with international down 10% and North America down 5%, pushing segment EBITDA down 9%. The equipment half depends on customers reaching final investment decisions on LNG, gas infrastructure and power projects, and those decisions can slip for permitting, financing or offtake reasons, which makes order timing uneven even when demand is intact. Integration is a live cost: the company took $215M of restructuring charges in FY2025 and is now absorbing Chart Industries, where the $325 million synergy target runs three years out. The portfolio is also being reshaped at both ends, with Precision Sensors and Instrumentation sold to Crane Company and surface pressure control moved into a joint venture, both completed January 1, 2026, so reported growth has to be read against a moving base. Geopolitics remains a constraint: the company halted new investment in Russia on March 19, 2022, sold part of that business and suspended substantially all remaining activity there.

Baker Hughes CEO and Leadership FAQ

Who is Lorenzo Simonelli and what has defined his tenure?

Lorenzo Simonelli has been president and chief executive since the GE Oil and Gas combination closed in July 2017 and chairman since October 2017, after leading GE Oil and Gas from October 2013 and GE Transportation from July 2008. He completed the GE separation, moved the listing to Nasdaq, reorganised four product companies into two segments in 2022, and acquired Chart Industries in 2026.

Who was Martin Craighead and what did he do as chief executive?

Martin Craighead joined Baker Hughes in 1986, became president in July 2010, chief executive in January 2012 and chairman in April 2013. He agreed the $34.6 billion Halliburton deal announced in November 2014, led the company through the 2014 to 2016 price collapse and the antitrust fight, then negotiated the GE Oil and Gas combination and served as vice chairman until 2019.

Who was Chad C. Deaton and what did he acquire?

Chad C. Deaton joined from Hanover Compressor and was chairman, president and chief executive from October 2004 until January 2012, then executive chairman from 2012 to 2013. He sold the 30% WesternGeco stake to Schlumberger for $2.4 billion in 2006 and acquired BJ Services for $5.5 billion in a deal that closed in April 2010.

Who led Baker Hughes before Deaton?

James D. Woods ran the company from the 1987 merger until 1997. Max L. Lukens was chairman, president and chief executive from 1997 until he resigned in January 2000, after which director Joe B. Foster served as interim chairman, president and chief executive until Michael E. Wiley took the role effective August 14, 2000. Wiley retired in 2004.

Who is the chief financial officer of Baker Hughes?

Ahmed Moghal is executive vice president and chief financial officer. He previously served as senior vice president and chief financial officer of the IET segment from 2023, and was appointed financial planning and analysis leader at the time of the 2017 merger of Baker Hughes and GE Oil and Gas.

Who runs the operating segments?

Amerino Gatti is executive vice president, Oilfield Services and Equipment, having joined in September 2024 from TEAM, Inc. Maria Claudia Borras is chief growth and experience officer and interim executive vice president, Industrial and Energy Technology. James E. Apostolides, chief infrastructure and performance officer, was appointed senior vice president to lead the Chart segment when that acquisition closed in July 2026.

Who are the other named executive officers?

The 2025 Form 10-K lists Georgia Magno as chief legal officer alongside Simonelli, Moghal, Apostolides, Borras and Gatti. Apostolides is responsible for health, safety and environment, security, digital technology, global supply chain centres of excellence and enterprise shared services.

How is executive pay structured?

Management reports performance against adjusted EBITDA, free cash flow conversion and segment margin targets, and discloses safety and emissions measures in its corporate sustainability reporting. Specific incentive plan weightings are set out in the annual proxy statement rather than the Form 10-K.

Who is the CEO of Baker Hughes?

Lorenzo Simonelli serves as the CEO, successfully guiding the company through its massive, complex merger with General Electric's oil division, and its subsequent spin-off back into independence.

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.