Fernando Gonzalez Olivieri

Fernando Gonzalez Olivieri is a global leader as the CEO of CEMEX, a building materials and services company with operations across Mexico, the U.S., Europe, the U.K., North Africa and the Middle East, Asia, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. He also serves on the CEMEX Board, as well as on the boards of Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua, telecoms company AXTEL, and Universidad Tecmilenio in Mexico.

Gonzalez Olivieri is responsible for leading over 46,000 employees worldwide in creating lasting value for the company’s stakeholders, with annual sales of approximately 15 billion USD. With an overall trajectory of over 30 years at CEMEX, Gonzalez Olivieri was appointed CEO in 2014, and he has headed some of the company’s major efforts to lead the global building materials industry in priority areas like Health and Safety, where CEMEX has recorded the lowest lost-time-to-injury rates for several consecutive years.

Gonzalez Olivieri is especially dedicated to sustainability and effective climate action, to address the pressing challenge that global warming and climate change pose both to humanity and to all life on Earth. As a company that aims to build a better future, CEMEX has publicly committed to some of the most ambitious decarbonization goals in its industry for the year 2030, and to achieve net zero by the year 2050—goals that have already been validated by the independent Science Based Targets initiative, or SBTi, a recognized nonprofit organization.

As part of its Future in Action program to achieve its far-reaching decarbonization goals, CEMEX already offers a line of low-carbon building products, named Vertua, and last January 2023, it launched an entire new business, called Regenera, contributing to a circular economy by using non-recyclable waste and industrial byproducts as more sustainable fuels.

CEMEX has also made long-standing contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals, and at a recent U.N. General Assembly CEO roundtable, held in September 2022, Gonzalez Olivieri said, “We recently agreed to strengthen our partnership with the U.N. on topics aligned with our areas of expertise, including sustainable finance, improving supply chains, strengthening gender diversity and inclusion, and a just transition to a carbon neutral economy.”

Gonzalez Olivieri has also led the digital transformation of the company, among other actions with its CEMEX Go platform, though which customers can select products and building services, monitor their delivery in real time, and make their invoicing and payments securely, providing a best-in-industry overall experience. At the same time, he has also promoted greater innovation, both by in-house R&D efforts as well as through CEMEX Ventures, a division that invests in promising startups that are driving the future of the building materials ecosystem, including areas like 3D printing using ready-mix concrete.

Finally, under Gonzalez Olivieri’s leadership at CEMEX has continued to provide a positive social impact for its neighboring communities and society around the world, with initiatives like Patrimonio Hoy, a microfinancing program that helps low-income families build their own housing or make value-adding renovations. As of 2023, the program is celebrating 25 years of providing advancement opportunities to people in need all over the world. On an accumulated basis, throughout the years CEMEX has positively impacted more than 25 million people, and it aims to reach 30 million by the year 2030.

Gonzalez Olivieri is a business leader who firmly believes in empowering people through continuous education and results-oriented climate action to create sustainable value for all.