BT Names Rio Tinto's Du Plessis Chairman as Challenges Mount

  • South African to step down as leader of mining company’s board
  • Former telephone monopoly seeks to recover from tough year

Jan du Plessis.

Photographer: Patrick Hamilton/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

BT Group Plc named Jan du Plessis as its new chairman, selecting an experienced businessman who has guided Rio Tinto Plc for eight years and helped engineer SABMiller Plc’s $104 billion sale.

The 63-year-old South African will start in the role Nov. 1, after joining the board as a non-executive director June 1, the former British telephone monopoly saidBloomberg Terminal Thursday. He is planning to step down as chairman of Rio Tinto next year, with the company planning to nameBloomberg Terminal a successor in 2017.