Leadership

Al Cook became Chief Executive Officer of De Beers Group in February 2023.

Skills and Experience

Al joined De Beers from Equinor, where he was Executive Vice President of Exploration and Production International, overseeing businesses across Africa, the Americas and Europe. Prior to this, he held the position of Executive Vice President for Global Strategy and Business Development, where he led the development of Equinor’s energy transition strategy.

Before joining Equinor in 2016, Al worked for BP for 20 years. He took on a range of commercial, project development and operations roles in the United Kingdom and United States, including acting as Offshore Installation Manager on the Cleeton Platform in the North Sea. He worked in Vietnam and Russia before moving to Azerbaijan in 2009. Here he led the development of the Southern Gas Corridor, a $40bn project that brought natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe for the first time. Cook’s final role at BP was Chief of Staff to the CEO.

Originally from the United Kingdom, Cook holds a master’s degree in Natural Sciences from St John’s College, University of Cambridge. In 2005, he completed the International Executive Programme at INSEAD in France.

External Appointments

Al is a Fellow of the Energy Institute and a Fellow of the Geological Society of London.

Richard was appointed Chief Financial Officer in October 2023.

Skills and Experience

Richard joined De Beers in 2017 as the Group Financial Controller, and subsequently assumed responsibility for the Business Planning and Business Development functions. He is also currently the Chairman of the Element Six joint venture with Umicore.

He has a strong track record of senior multi-national financial roles throughout his career, including at Anglo American Thermal Coal in South Africa where he led the finance department and supported the transformation of that business prior to its demerger from Anglo American. Whilst at Thermal Coal, he was also a Director of Mafube Coal, the Anglo American joint venture with Exxaro, and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Richards Bay Coal Terminal, one of the leading coal export terminals in the world.

Richard trained as a Chartered Accountant at PwC and holds a BSc in Biology from the University of Nottingham.

Andrew was appointed Managing Director, Debswana in June 2022. Debswana is the Botswana-based diamond mining joint venture between the Government of the Republic of Botswana and De Beers Group.

Skills and Experience

Andrew joined Debswana from the Bank of Botswana, where he held several key strategic and leadership positions during a 29-year career, most recently as Deputy Governor of the Bank. As Deputy Governor, he represented Botswana regionally and internationally in various forums, including the country’s membership of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He also worked on attachment at the IMF in Washington DC as a Special Appointee, as well as serving as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis.

Andrew holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Accounting from the University of Botswana, a post-graduate Diploma in Economic Development and Planning from the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning, and a Master’s Degree in Economics from the Victoria University of Manchester.

Alessandra was appointed Executive Vice President, Partnerships and Corporate Projects, in February 2018.

Skills and Experience

Alessandra was Lead Legal Counsel for Anglo American from 2013 to 2018, leading on mergers and acquisitions and strategic transactions. Previously, she was Group General Counsel for De Beers Group from 2008. She has also served as a director of De Beers Group Services and De Beers Marine. She currently serves as an Executive Committee member of De Beers plc, a Director of De Beers UK, De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited, Debswana Diamond Mining Company, Diamond Trading Company Botswana, Gemfair Limited, Namdeb Holdings Limited and De Beers Namibia Holdings (Pty) Limited.

Before joining De Beers, she was a partner at Webber Wentzel, Africa’s largest law firm.

Alessandra is a qualified lawyer with a BA in English, Philosophy and Law and an LLB from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. She is also an Admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.

Siobhán was appointed CEO, Element Six, in February 2023.

Skills and Experience

Siobhán has more than 30 years of experience at Element Six, working across the organisation from production and quality control through to business management and innovation. Prior to being appointed Chief Executive, she was Executive Director for Sales & Marketing from 2018 and Executive Director, Innovation from 2014. She held a variety of senior management positions before this time, including heading the Oil & Gas business unit.

Siobhán has an MBA, as well as an Advanced Diploma in Analytical Science and an Advanced Diploma in Quality Management.

Sandrine became Chief Executive Officer, Brands & Diamond Desirability in December 2023.

Skills and Experience

Sandrine joined De Beers from Maus Freres Brands Group where she spent eight years, including as CEO of Aigle and before that, Group Marketing & Branding Executive Vice President for Lacoste. Prior to this, Sandrine spent almost two decades in leadership roles at Unilever spanning marketing, general management and audit disciplines across various geographies.

Sandrine holds a Master’s in Business Management from NEOMA Business School, she is an Alumni of Science Po Paris and has an International Directors Programme Certificate from INSEAD. She has served as a Board Member and Senior Advisor at PPYarns and Raise Sherpas. She received the Chevalière de l’Ordre National du Mérite (Knight of the French Republic) in recognition of promoting diversity in business while developing sustainability within the French industry. She was also included on the Walpole Power List 2026.

External Appointments

Sandrine serves as a Non Executive Member on the Board of CARBIOS, the French biotech company and is the Chair of the Natural Diamond Council.

Malebogo Mpugwa was appointed Chief People Officer, De Beers Group, in October 2022.

Skills and Experience

Malebogo joined Debswana in 2000 and held several HR management roles before taking on Head of HR and Group Talent Manager roles in De Beers Group and Anglo American. Since 2019, she has been Head of Talent Management, Learning and Organisation Development for De Beers Group, leading the business’s work to attract, develop and retain key talent across the pipeline.

Malebogo holds a BA in Public Administration and Political Science from the University of Botswana, as well as an Executive MBA from London Business School.

Paul was appointed Executive Vice President, Diamond Trading, in February 2018.

Skills and Experience

Paul joined De Beers in 1983 as a trainee diamond sorter in the Rough Diamond Division. Between 1986 and 1987, he was seconded to Kimberley, before returning to London to take up a role in the Purchasing Department. This role gave him extensive diamond buying experience in Angola, Antwerp, Zaire, Congo and Guinea. In 2007, he was appointed Executive Director at the Diamond Trading Company (DTC). In this capacity, he was a member of the DTC Executive Committee team in London and served on the boards of DTC Botswana and Namibia DTC.

In 2012, he became acting Managing Director of DTC Botswana, before becoming Senior Vice President, Operations Midstream, where he oversaw the preparations for the migration of the Sales functions from London in the UK to Gaborone, Botswana.

His most recent role, prior to his current one, was as Executive Vice President, Global Sightholder Sales.

Willy was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Debmarine Namibia in November 2022.

Skills and Experience

Will has been a key member of the Debmarine Namibia leadership team for the last 10 years. His most recent role, prior to his current one, was as Chief Financial Officer of Debmarine Namibia with oversight accountability for Namdeb Holdings (Pty) Ltd.

He is a Chartered Accountant by training and brings to his new role a wealth of corporate experience spanning more than 20 years.

Riaan Burger became Chief Executive Officer of Namdeb Diamond Corporation in 2017 and was appointed to the De Beers Group Executive Committee in October 2022.

Skills and Experience

Prior to becoming CEO of Namdeb, Riaan held a number of different leadership and key strategic project roles within Namdeb, having joined the company in 1995 as a Section Engineer.

Before joining Namdeb, Riaan worked in the aviation industry for Air Namibia.

Riaan is a Mechanical Engineer by training and also holds an MBA from the University of Stellenbosch Business School.

Kevin was appointed Chief Operating Officer in December 2025.

Skills and Experience

Kevin joined De Beers in 1996 and, over the past 30 years, have held leadership roles across De Beers and Anglo American spanning operational, technical and commercial positions. Most recently, Kevin was the Executive Vice President for Strategy and Corporate Affairs for De Beers, leading the strategy, business development, communications and government affairs functions for the Group. His experience spans leadership roles at both our operations and at Group level, including close collaboration with our government partners in Botswana and Namibia

Kevin holds a BSc Mining Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

External Appointments

Kevin serves on the Boards of Namdeb and Debmarine Namibia, De Beers’ joint ventures with the Government of the Republic of Namibia, as well as the Debswana Board, Technical Committee and Sustainability Committee, our joint venture with the Government of the Republic of Botswana. He is also the CEO of De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) and De Beers Group Services (DBGS), serves as a Director of De Beers UK (DBUK) and chair of the Sustainability Committee for De Beers plc.

Tom was appointed General Counsel for De Beers in January 2024.

Skills and Experience

Tom joined Anglo American in 2016 as Legal Manager for the Element Six Group. He subsequently assumed the role of Head of Legal for De Beers in 2020 and took over responsibility for the Company Secretarial function in 2021.

He has previously held senior international legal management and governance roles across a number of industries including at Element Six and Rexam plc (a multinational FTSE 100 packaging business). He started his career as a corporate finance lawyer at Allen & Overy.

Tom is a qualified Solicitor of the Supreme Courts of England and holds a BA in jurisprudence from the University of Oxford.