Corporate Governance

Gerard Barron has agreed to serve as TMC’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors upon the closing of the Business Combination and has been nominated to serve as a member of the TMC board of directors upon the closing of the Business Combination. Mr. Barron became involved in the early strategic development and financing of DeepGreen during its formation in 2011 and stepped into the role of DeepGreen’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 2018. From July 2013 until becoming Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 2017, Mr. Barron served as a strategic advisor to DeepGreen Board and shareholders. Mr. Barron is a seasoned entrepreneur with a track record of building global companies in battery technology, media and future-oriented resource development both as a chief executive officer and strategic investor. In 2001, Mr. Barron founded Adstream, a global advertising technology and services provider, and served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer until December 2013. During that time, Adstream grew from a single office in Sydney to over 40 offices in 30 countries around the world and over $100 million in global revenue per year. Mr. Barron has also been a first money investor in industry-leading companies including Nautilus Minerals and Sirtex Medical.

Steve Jurvetson serves on TMC’s board of directors as Vice Chairman and Special Advisor to the CEO. He is a renowned venture capitalist with a distinguished track record in technology investment. As a co-founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, he led the VC firm’s founding investments in several companies that had successful IPOs (e.g., Tesla, Planet Labs, D-Wave) and others that were acquired (e.g., Skype, Nervana, Hotmail), representing $800 billion of aggregate value creation. In 2018, he co-founded Future Ventures to focus on trailblazing, purpose-driven entrepreneurs with unique ideas that have the potential to reinvent entire industries—from nuclear fusion and space exploration to sustainable energy and AI. Prior to Future Ventures, Steve was an R&D Engineer at Hewlett-Packard, where seven of his chip designs were fabricated, and also worked in product marketing at Apple and NeXT. In 2016, President Barack Obama appointed Steve as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship. Mr. Jurvetson completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, as well as a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Master of Business Administration.

Andrew C. Greig is the founder of ACAC Innovation and its Senior Director. He worked for Bechtel Group for 34 years; led its global mining business for 13 years; was managing director for its Australian operations; and was group HR Manager in his last assignment. Andy has worked and lived all over the world and was a Senior Vice President and Director of Bechtel Group, Inc. Managerial positions included: various on-project Manager positions, General Manager (Bechtel Global Pipeline Business Line), Manager of Construction Services (Latin America), Regional Industry Unit General Manager (Mining & Metals, Asia Pacific) and Managing Director of Bechtel Australia.

From 2001 to 2006, Andy served as President of Bechtel’s Mining & Metals global business unit. He then moved to Bechtel’s Oil, Gas & Chemicals business for two years to lead the Brass LNG project in Nigeria as Project Director. He resumed his role as president of Mining & Metals―as well as Managing Director of Bechtel Australia and head of Bechtel’s business throughout Oceania―in 2007. As President of the Mining & Metals, Andy was responsible for strategy, planning, execution and project delivery for the global business unit which peaked at 55,000 personnel across 14 countries and over $5B in annual revenue. Andy was elected as Principal Vice President in 1997 and a Senior Vice President in 2001. He was appointed to Bechtel Group’s Board of Directors in 2011. Andy is a business graduate of Monash University and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology, Science and Engineering. He has a passion for innovation, development and growth of people, and health and safety in the workplace – and in life.

Andrei Karkar is a global investor with deep experience engaging in a range of strategic investment activities. He currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of ERAS Holdings, the Karkar Family Office with its origins in Karkar Electronics founded in 1959. Mr. Karkar is a Board Member of Shepherd OÜ, an Oracle solution for industrial Maintenance Management and previously served as a Director of DeepGreen Metals Inc.

Andrew Hall serves as a member of TMC’s board of directors upon the closing of the Business Combination. Mr. Hall is an internationally experienced executive and non-executive in the renewable energy technologies and services sector. Since July 2018, Mr. Hall has served as Managing Director of Saxjo Limited, a renewable energy consultancy company. Previously, Mr. Hall was Group Chief Financial Officer at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA, one of the largest companies in the wind and renewables industry, from April 2017 to November 2017. From October 2015 to March 2017, Mr. Hall served as Group Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director at Siemens Wind Power GmbH & Co KG, a wind turbine original equipment manufacturer. Prior to that, Mr. Hall held a number of senior positions in other divisions of Siemens AG, including Chief Financial Officer and Board Member at Siemens Holdings plc & Cluster North West Europe in London from 2012 to 2015 and Chief Financial Officer and Board Member at Siemens Ltd & Cluster Africa in Johannesburg from 2008 to 2012. Mr. Hall currently serves on the board of a portfolio of venture capital, private equity and family office-backed companies in the renewable energy sector. Since September 2019, Mr. Hall has been Executive Chair of Star Windco Limited, a company providing wind turbine erection services. Since October 2018, Mr. Hall has been a non-executive director of Time to Act Limited, which specializes in metal coatings for the gas turbine and hydrogen industries. Additionally, Mr. Hall has served as Chair of New Motion Labs Limited, which licenses technology for the manufacture of mechanical drives, since June 2019, and as Senior Independent Director of Hero Future Energies Global Limited, a global renewable energy developer, since February 2019. Previously, Mr. Hall served as a board member A2Sea AS from 2015 to 2017, Voith Hydro GmbH & Co KG from 2015 to 2017 and Mimica Labs from 2014 to 2017. Mr. Hall earned a M.Sc. & B.Sc. from the University of Cape Town and an M.B.A. from the London Business School.

Christian Madsbjerg serves as a member of TMC’s board of directors upon the closing of the Business Combination. Since 2019, Mr. Madsbjerg has served on the board of directors of Fritz Hansen A/S Copenhagen. Since August 2018, Mr. Madsbjerg has served as Professor of Applied Humanities at The New School for Social Research. Since January 2009, Mr. Madsbjerg has served as a director and senior partner of the consulting firm, ReD Associates, which he co-founded in August 2007. Mr. Madsbjerg is also a writer whose work has been featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Washington Post, Der Spiegel, and Bloomberg Businessweek. His latest book, Sensemaking: The Power of the Humanities in the Age of the Algorithm, was published in the spring of 2017 by Hachette Book Group. His book The Moment of Clarity, co-written with ReD partner Mikkel B. Rasmussen, was published by Harvard Business Press in the fall of 2014. He studied philosophy and political science in Copenhagen and London and has a Masters from the University of London.

Sheila Khama serves as a director of TMC’s board of directors upon the closing of the Business Combination. Ms. Khama is a consultant, policy advisor and former mining industry executive with expertise in corporate governance and sustainable development of minerals, oil and gas resources. Since April 2019, Ms. Khama has been an independent consultant on oil and gas governance and policy reforms for SK Consulting Pty, Ltd. From November 2016 to March 2019, Ms. Khama served as Practice Manager and Coordinator of Donor Relations and Partnerships at The World Bank, where she led an international team of mineral, oil and gas specialists in implementing support programs ranging from policy reforms, technical assistance, research and knowledge dissemination for various countries. From November 2013 to November 2016, Ms. Khama served as Director of the African Natural Resources Center at the African Development Bank in Tunisia, where she led a support program for African governments to improve development outcomes from renewable and non-renewable resources. From 2010 to 2013, Ms. Khama served as Director of the Extractives Advisory Program at the African Center for Economic Transformation, a pan-African think tank based in Ghana. Ms. Khama also previously held a number of senior roles in the private sector, including Chief Executive Officer of De Beers Botswana from 2005 to 2010, Head of Marketing and Communication at the First National Bank of Botswana Ltd from 2002 to 2005, and Group Secretary of the Anglo American Corporation Botswana from 1994 to 2002. Ms. Khama also currently serves as a Non-Executive Director for Tullow Oil plc, a position she has held since June 2019. Ms. Khama received an M.B.A. in General Management from Edinburgh University and a B.A. from the University of Botswana.

Brendan May is chairman and founder of Robertsbridge, a leading global sustainability consultancy he formed in 2010 with a number of prominent environmental thinkers. From 1999 to 2004, Brendan worked in oceans sustainability as Chief Executive of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Mr May is a former contributing editor to Ethical Corporation and the former European chairman of the Rainforest Alliance. Mr. May holds an M.A. from the University of Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Politics & Economics. May has spent more than 25 years in the sustainability world, first as an NGO campaigner, then as a corporate advisor, counsel which has been sought by many leading companies and brands around the world. He recently stepped down after four years as Chairman of Cargill's Forests & Land Use Sustainability Advisory Panel.

He is a regular commentator on corporate responsibility and sustainability issues. In 2019 his firm was acquired by Stonehaven, a London based strategy firm, where he is also Deputy Chairman.

Michael Hess is an investor and operator with over 15 years of experience in the U.S. energy industry. He currently serves as the Chief Investment Officer of Hess Capital, the private and public investment arm of the Hess family. Mr. Hess began his career in the energy groups at Goldman Sachs and KKR, gaining valuable experience in evaluating, financing, and developing energy infrastructure, logistics, and services businesses. He then co-founded and currently serves as the Executive Chairman of the Bison Companies, where he has led strategic initiatives across a diverse portfolio including oil and gas development, water infrastructure, and payment solutions tailored to the energy sector. He has a strong focus on the critical minerals space. He holds degrees from Harvard College and Harvard Business School.

Alex Spiro is a prominent trial lawyer and investor, known for his work across the energy, technology, and mining sectors. He is a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, where he co-chairs the Investigations, Government Enforcement & White Collar Defense Practice. Mr. Spiro has tried over 50 cases to verdict, handling complex litigation involving regulatory issues, defamation, securities, and intellectual property issues. He is an active investor and advisor to companies in the technology, mining, and energy sectors with extensive expertise in corporate governance, public markets, and regulatory affairs. Mr. Spiro has served on the faculty of Harvard’s Trial Advocacy Program, as a lecturer at Harvard Law School, and currently chairs the Board of the Fair Punishment Project, Harvard’s criminal justice initiative. Prior to his legal career, he studied biopsychology and worked at Harvard’s McLean Hospital for over five years, where he led departments within an adolescent treatment facility for children with Autism and Asperger’s syndrome. Mr. Spiro earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School and holds a degree in biopsychology from Tufts University.