The story of DSM through the eyes of CEO, Feike Sijbesma

We live in a nice world with an enormous amount of inequality. Less than 1% of the world has as much as 99% of the world. The billion richest people in the world, and many of us belong to that group, claim that they can consume because they do 45% of global resources and produce 45% of global waste, leaving almost the other 50% to the other six billion people. Is that fair? I have traveled with many of the people from the UN in Somalia, Ethiopia, Bangladesh. At a certain moment in a village where people are dying of the shots, a mother handed over her youngest child to me, and before you know I was standing there with the child in my arms. The two words that the lady spoke, two words which are with me for the rest of my life: I said, you know, and I was standing and I don't know anything. I mean, what do I know? You know, when you come back in two years from now, I don't have six children anymore. You've been here in this village, you know, I know even stronger, the world knows. The two words: you know, is so true. We know what is happening. And if you then as a company have the abilities, if you have that, then you must use it. We were ever one of the most polluting industries of companies in the world. We transitioned from a coal mining company to a bulk chemical company later. In the late 90s, there was a debate in DSM where a new transition was needed to a more greener form of chemistry. DSM acquired the biggest biotech company in the Netherlands. That's the way I came in voluntarily into DSM. Being in DSM, we started the discussion with my predecessor, myself, and some of my colleagues: will we be successful as a bulk chemical company? And my belief, maybe I was not totally objective, meaning a biologist, my belief and my colleagues was we will not be successful on the long run as a chemical company, bulk chemical company. 2008, that was just CEO, and some people, especially the financial world, asked what are you going to do? And I said contributing to a better society and make the company very successful. And people said, well, I hear two messages: successful company, that's very good by the way, and improving the world, it's not your task, you're not the charity foundation, which is correct. So you need to make profit as a company, you need to take care of your shareholders, which is correct. They are wrong in my opinion to say that it is not our responsibility to leave a better world behind. So we entered into a new transformation, but it wasn't easy. 2008, world went into a crisis, share prices down, profit down, how share price dropped tremendously. We had also one time, I remember this meeting with some shareholders, stood up and said, should we continue with all that stuff? And I said, yeah, but it costs money. It's our responsibility, even stronger, I think it's your responsibility also as a shareholder that our company does that. Our company owned by you, or you are invested in our company. And at a certain moment, a lady stood up and said, but I think it's good what he's doing. I think this is exactly our responsibility. This is the company I want to invest in. We as a company look to ourselves. Apparently we are good now in nutrition, we are good in understanding malnutrition, we are good in addressing climate change with new energies, etc. So especially in the field of climate, in the field of hunger and food, the field of circular economy, in those domains we can have a lot of impact. I think in 10 years from now, people will find out that those two things, doing well, doing good, will have to go hand in hand together. Otherwise, people don't work for your company anymore, people don't buy your products anymore, you lose your license to operate. Sometimes I predict already, looking back, sitting there with my wife and my two boys, and I don't want to regret. And if my two boys then, while he was CEO of the company, and what did you do with your life? I hope I will not discuss only EBITDA or share price or the profit, etc. And I hope to be able to say something like: we inherited the world in a certain status from our parents, we lived well, we enjoyed it, but we also tried to deal responsibly with the world and improving it a little bit, and handing it over to you that you can continue that journey and live happily here together with your children. And I realize I need to act now to be able to tell that story which I want at that moment in time. That drives me, I think.