Gareth Penny has announced that he will be stepping down as CEO of De Beers after serving for five years in the position.

In a brief notice released along with the De Beers’ first half results, the company stated that after overseeing the response to the global financial crisis and De Beers’ subsequent recovery, Penny advised its board of directors that he believes it is an appropriate time for him to step down. It the statement, it said that the board Penny for “his substantial contribution to De Beers during his 22 years with the company, and wishes him every success as he pursues new opportunities.”

Penny will step down in the coming months. A process is currently underway to identify a successor, during which time Stuart Brown, De Beers’ chief financial officer, and Bruce Cleaver, its chief commercial officer, will serve as acting joint-CEOs.

More than any other individual Penny is credited with having reshaped De Beers’ business model, which replaced over 100 years of supply-side management in the rough diamond business, with demand-driven initiatives that have seen global diamond industry growth year on year since 2000. He led the company through its seminal strategic review at the end of the 1990s, as is recognised as the architect of the Supplier of Choice strategy.

Penny joined Anglo American Corporation in 1988. He led the Anglo American and De Beers Small Business Initiative in South Africa and set up a diamond cutting factory in Botswana, followed by two years as personal assistant to the Chairman of Anglo American and De Beers and then as Diamond Consultant in South Africa.  Having led the strategic review, he was appointed Director of Sales and Marketing of the Diamond Trading Company in London in 2001. He joined the Board of De Beers in 2003, and became group CEO of the De Beers Group of Companies in March 2006.

Credit is given to AWDC Antwerp by DiamondTopics.com