Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, ASHLAND INC
Guillermo Novo, Chair of the Board + CEO of Ashland joins NYSE TV Live
About Guillermo Novo
Guillermo Novo, Chair and CEO of Ashland, appeared on NYSE TV Live on December 17, 2024, after the company rang the opening bell to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Novo described the company's evolution from an oil company to a diversified chemical company and now to a specialty materials firm, attributing its longevity to its people and a focus on change. He stated that over the last few years, the company concentrated on things within its control, building resilience and agility amid uncertainty while executing a strategy of investing in innovation. Novo noted that the company had "radically changed" its business profile and portfolio, and that an upcoming investor day would focus on the future. Looking ahead to 2025, Novo said the short-term environment remains uncertain, particularly regarding macroeconomic trade issues, and emphasized maintaining flexibility to maximize performance while staying on strategy. He stated that the company's future involves growth through innovation and launching new technology platforms that customers are excited about. Novo said the company aims to keep its legacy and values while working with customers to create value for them and, in turn, for investors.
Transcript (11 segments)
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Reporter0:00
Earlier this morning, NYC-listed company Ashland, as you see behind me, rang the opening bell to celebrate its 100th year of founding. Trinity Chavez has more. Hi Trinity.
Hey Kristen, that's right. So Ashland Incorporated is celebrating 100 years, as you said, of innovation and success, evolving from its roots to a leader in specialty materials. Now here to discuss the milestone and what's ahead is Guillermo Novo. He is the Chair and CEO of Ashland. Guillermo, congratulations on 100 years. You're fresh off the bell podium and now you're here on the trading floor. What do you think has been the key to achieving Ashland's longevity and such success?
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Guillermo Novo0:40
No, this is a company with a huge history, as you can imagine. A hundred years, not that many companies get to live that long. So I think you've got to credit the people. I mean, this is a company that's transitioned from being an oil company to a diversified chemical company to now really a specialty material company. So it's been a journey of change, and it's really exciting for us because we're entering a new phase of our journey. And I brought here all of our new team. We got some people here that have been 37 years, so a big part of the 100 years, and others that have just joined a year ago. So it's really been an exciting day for us.
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Reporter1:20
And Guillermo, you joined right before COVID, and you know, during challenging times, and how you navigated through the complexities of our ever-changing landscape at that time. Talk to me about how you accomplished achieving the goals that you did and how you overcame those hurdles.
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Guillermo Novo1:36
Oh, it's been an interesting time. If you can look at over the last few years, I think the biggest issue is we were focused on the things that we could control. I think the whole issue in all these uncertain times has been to build resilience and agility to respond to things, but have a clear strategy of where you're going. And we were able to execute our strategy of changing the company, really investing in innovation. The biggest transformation that we've made is huge investments in innovation. Tomorrow we're doing an investor day, for example. We're really talking about the future. We're going to celebrate the past, but really look at the future, where we're going. So for us, it was really that part of focusing on what we can control. And I'm happy with the team now that they've come in. We've radically changed the business profile, our portfolio of companies, of businesses, but also this innovation and the people. I hired a lot of people that are really going to transform the company in the future.
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Reporter2:30
Now Ashland's motto is 'Always Evolving.' Talk to me about how you remain innovative and ahead of the curve in an ever-changing business landscape and market structure.
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Guillermo Novo2:39
I think it's about curiosity. You know, innovation is about curiosity. You have to really question what can we do differently, what is in the future, not be afraid of change, embrace the change. And that's really what's going to make you stronger. And I think we're seeing that in our innovation and the people that we have, just the businesses portfolio. So for us, as I said, the last 100 years has nothing to do with where we're going. It's going to be a different company, different portfolio of businesses, and a different team. But we want to keep our legacy, our values, as a company with deep values on how we operate, how we respect all of our stakeholders. But then really about innovation, how do we work with our customers, create value for them, and then we can create value for our investors and for all our other stakeholders.
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Reporter3:23
Looking ahead as we enter into 2025, talk to me about some of your key business priorities and how you're going to continue to evolve for the next 100 years.
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Guillermo Novo3:34
I think in the short term, it remains a lot of uncertain times, just like the last five years, especially I think right now it's macroeconomic trade issues. I think over the next six months we'll see a lot of that work out. So we want to make sure that we have the flexibility and the strength to work and maximize our performance in the short term. But more importantly, stay on strategy. We know where we want to go. For us, the future is about growth through innovation. We have some really exciting businesses that we're investing heavily for growth, independent of the environment that we're in. But more importantly, really launching these new technology platforms that our customers are very excited about. And the future is about technology innovation, not about the past. The future is bright.
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Reporter4:19
Thank you so much. That was Guillermo Novo, Ashland Chair of the Board and CEO. Thank you again.
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Guillermo Novo4:23
Thank you so much. Appreciated.