Morten Wierod

Overview

Morten Wierod
Born	1972 (age 53–54) Skien, Norway
Citizenship	Norwegian
Education	Master's degree in electrical engineering
Alma mater	Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Occupation(s)	Business executive and engineer
Employer	ABB Ltd.
Known for	Long-serving ABB executive and chief executive officer
Title	President and CEO of ABB Ltd.
Term	1 August 2024 – present
Predecessor	Björn Rosengren
Board member of	European Round Table for Industry
Spouse	Biophysicist (name not publicly disclosed)
Children	Two sons

👤 Morten Wierod (born 1972) is a Norwegian business executive and engineer who has spent virtually his entire professional career at the Swiss–Swedish industrial group ABB. Rising from an entry-level engineering role in Norway in the late 1990s to become president and chief executive officer (CEO) of ABB on 1 August 2024, he is regarded as a rare example of a “home-grown” leader of a major European industrial company. Over more than 25 years he has led several of ABB’s major businesses – including its Motion and Electrification divisions – and has become closely associated with the company’s focus on combining operational “lean” efficiency with a “clean” energy transition agenda.

~*~

Early life and education

🎓 Norwegian upbringing. Wierod was born in 1972 in Skien, an industrial city in southern Norway, and grew up in what is described as a typically modest Norwegian environment. From an early age he showed an interest in technology and engineering, gravitating towards technical subjects that would later underpin his professional focus on industrial electrification and automation.

📚 Engineering education. He studied electrical engineering at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), one of Norway’s leading technical institutions, and graduated with a master’s degree in 1997. During his time at NTNU he met the biophysicist who would later become his wife, reflecting a shared academic background that would remain part of his personal life even as his career moved firmly into corporate leadership.

🔌 Entry into ABB. Shortly after completing his degree, Wierod joined ABB in 1998 as a young engineer, a decision he has later described as having “never looked back”, citing the appeal of technology that can drive efficiency and sustainability in industry. This early decision to commit to a single multinational employer proved decisive: rather than changing companies, he built a one-firm career inside ABB that unfolded across multiple business units, countries and leadership levels over the following decades.

~*~

Career

🏭 Early roles in Norway. Wierod’s initial years at ABB were spent in Norway, where he first worked as an area sales manager for low-voltage products before becoming export manager around 2000. In the early 2000s he was given responsibility for ABB’s breakers and switches business in Norway and soon faced a critical challenge when a factory near Oslo was identified as a candidate for closure. Instead of overseeing a wind-down, he led efforts to turn the plant around, ultimately keeping it open and preserving jobs, an episode later described as a formative “pivot point” in his career. The success helped build his internal reputation as a problem-solver able to deliver under pressure.

🌏 Expansion to China. By 2008 Wierod had moved beyond Norway into a more international role, relocating to Shanghai to head ABB’s Low Voltage Products operations in China. In this capacity he managed both a local business unit and a global product line, gaining first-hand experience of operating in one of ABB’s fastest-growing markets. The China posting exposed him to large-scale manufacturing, intense competition and rapid infrastructure expansion, providing a proving ground in which he could demonstrate adaptability and cross-cultural leadership.

🏢 Transition to Swiss headquarters. In 2011 Wierod joined ABB’s headquarters in Switzerland, marking his entry into the company’s senior management tiers. He initially served as managing director for the Control Products business within the Low Voltage division, and later took charge of ABB’s Drives business, which forms part of the Robotics and Motion division. These assignments expanded his responsibility from regional to global product portfolios and from factory-level operations to strategic business leadership, consolidating his profile as a disciplined executive with a strong engineering background.

⚙️ President of Motion business area. In 2019 ABB appointed Wierod president of its Motion business area, one of the company’s largest divisions, and simultaneously made him a member of the group executive committee. This promotion placed him in ABB’s top leadership circle at around 47 years of age and intensified speculation that he was a potential future CEO. Swiss business media later characterised him as a “quiet standard-bearer” for the top job, noting his reserved demeanour combined with solid operational performance.

🔋 Leadership of Electrification division. In 2022 Wierod moved from Motion to lead ABB’s Electrification business, which covers products and systems ranging from power distribution to electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Under his leadership, the division’s revenues increased by around 15% over a two-year period and its operating profit margin improved from about 16% to 20%, reflecting both growth and enhanced profitability in a core part of ABB’s portfolio. These results, together with his familiarity with ABB’s decentralised operating model, strengthened his position when succession discussions for the CEO role began.

🏅 Appointment as CEO of ABB. In February 2024 ABB’s board announced that Morten Wierod would succeed Björn Rosengren as president and CEO of ABB Ltd. with effect from 1 August 2024, following a transition period. ABB’s chairman at the time, Peter Voser, described him as an “outstanding internal candidate” who understood the company’s decentralised structure and had demonstrated strong execution in multiple business areas. Commentators in the European financial press emphasised that, unlike Rosengren who had been hired externally, Wierod was an “ABB-Eigengewächs” – a native product of the company’s own ranks – and framed his elevation as the “crowning of a family story” inside ABB.

📊 Early tenure and strategic direction. After taking office in August 2024, Wierod signalled continuity by reaffirming ABB’s decentralised “ABB Way” operating model, which delegates accountability to individual business areas. In parallel, he articulated a strategic emphasis on making ABB both “leaner and cleaner”, arguing that industrial productivity improvements and decarbonisation should be pursued together rather than as competing priorities. In interviews he has described efficiency and emissions reduction as an “and” equation, indicating that the company’s technologies in electrification, automation and digital control can support both objectives simultaneously.

🤖 Divestment of robotics division. One of the most notable portfolio moves of Wierod’s early tenure came in late 2025, when ABB agreed to sell its longstanding Robotics division to SoftBank for approximately US$5.4 billion. The transaction, framed as a strategic partnership that would combine ABB’s robotics technologies with SoftBank’s capabilities in artificial intelligence, signalled a willingness to reshape ABB’s portfolio even in historically important areas. Wierod characterised SoftBank as “an excellent new home for the business and its employees” and argued that the combination would help define the next era of smart automation. Analysts interpreted the divestment as a move to concentrate ABB’s resources more squarely on electrification and industrial automation software while maintaining exposure to robotics through collaboration.

📈 Financial performance under his leadership. ABB’s results during Wierod’s early years as CEO have shown continued strength. The company reported record-high orders in 2025 and improvements in profitability, reflecting broad-based demand across its key markets. In the second quarter of 2025, ABB’s orders rose by about 16% year-on-year to a new quarterly record, while its operational EBITA margin reached approximately 19.2%. Wierod described the environment as a “robust general trading” context despite geopolitical uncertainties and indicated that ABB was on track for a “record year”, underlining the resilience he sees in the company’s diversified portfolio. By late 2025, ABB’s market capitalisation was estimated at around US$100 billion with annual revenues of roughly US$33 billion, placing it among Europe’s largest industrial groups.

~*~

Compensation and net worth

💼 Executive remuneration. As CEO of ABB, Wierod receives a compensation package consistent with the scale of the group. When he assumed the chief executive position in August 2024, his fixed annual base salary was set at around 1.5 million Swiss francs, up from approximately 990,000 francs in his prior role. The company’s remuneration reports and external analyses indicate that his total compensation, including short-term performance bonuses and long-term share-based incentives, is in the region of US$7.3 million per year, with a relatively small proportion as fixed salary and the majority as variable, performance-linked pay. This structure is presented by ABB as reflecting a pay-for-performance philosophy.

📊 Shareholdings and estimated wealth. Over his long tenure at ABB, Wierod has accumulated a personal equity stake in the company through incentive schemes and direct investment. Public filings and independent analyses suggest that he owns roughly 0.01% of ABB’s outstanding shares, a small fraction of the total but meaningful given the group’s size. At late-2025 market prices, this position was estimated to be worth on the order of 134 million Swedish krona (around US$12 million). Combined with his executive remuneration, external estimates have placed his total net worth in the tens of millions of dollars, with one market data provider suggesting a figure of about US$17 million. These assessments characterise him as a well-remunerated professional manager rather than an entrepreneur with outsized ownership stakes.

~*~

Personal life

🏡 Family and private life. Despite his role at the head of a global industrial group, Wierod is generally portrayed as maintaining a low public profile in his personal life. He is married to a biophysicist whom he met during his university studies, and the couple have two sons. The family has been based in Switzerland since the 2010s, reflecting the location of ABB’s headquarters in the Zurich area. Media reports and colleagues tend to describe him as a family-oriented individual who spends his free time largely away from public events and prefers not to place his private life in the spotlight.

🧭 Personality and management style. Commentators in the Swiss and German business press often describe Wierod as calm, analytical and understated, drawing on stereotypes of a “Nordic” leadership style. Reports have highlighted that he tends to listen more than he speaks in meetings, asks precise, fact-based questions and focuses on performance and solutions rather than rhetoric. Former colleagues have characterised him as communicative and direct yet modest, with an open approach to discussion and a strong orientation towards results. This combination of reserve and determination has been portrayed as central to his leadership style at ABB.

🌈 Support for inclusion and social issues. Within ABB, Wierod has taken visible roles in diversity and inclusion initiatives. He has served as the executive committee sponsor for the company’s LGBTQ+ inclusion programmes, acting as a senior ally and advocate for minority employees. In June 2024, shortly before becoming CEO, he participated in a Pride Month event at ABB’s Zurich offices organised with the business coalition Open for Business, where he spoke about the business case for LGBTQ+ inclusion and emphasised that “inclusion means everyone”, linking diverse teams to stronger company performance. His involvement in such initiatives is often cited as evidence of a leadership approach that combines operational focus with attention to workplace culture.

🏁 Interests and profile outside the boardroom. Wierod’s personal interests have not been widely publicised, but he has been associated with ABB’s support for electric motorsport, including appearances at Formula E events where ABB is a major partner. These engagements are consistent with his professional emphasis on electrification and sustainable energy technologies, blurring the line between corporate representation and personal enthusiasm for technological innovation.

~*~

Controversies and challenges

⚖️ Succession and expectations. Wierod’s appointment as CEO came after a period in which ABB had been reshaped by his predecessor, Björn Rosengren, whose tenure is credited with refocusing the group and roughly doubling its market value between 2020 and 2024. As a result, some commentators argued that Wierod faced a “tough test of proof” in demonstrating that an internal successor could sustain or accelerate that momentum. Analyses in the Swiss and German business press suggested that he would need to “learn to fly quickly” in the top job, with limited scope for missteps in strategy or execution during his early years in charge.

🚧 Strategic and competitive pressures. While Wierod has not been personally associated with major scandals or legal disputes, he has had to navigate significant strategic and macroeconomic challenges. ABB operates in competitive markets against rivals such as Siemens and Schneider Electric in electrification and automation and against firms like Fanuc and Yaskawa in robotics and motion control, creating continuous pressure to maintain technological and cost competitiveness. In addition, ABB’s global footprint exposes it to supply-chain disruptions, inflationary cost pressures and geopolitical tensions, all of which can affect project execution and demand. In communications with investors, Wierod has acknowledged these “geopolitical uncertainties” while expressing confidence that ABB’s diversified portfolio and decentralised organisation provide resilience; in mid-2025 he reiterated that the company was still on track for a record year despite such headwinds. To date there have been no widely reported shareholder revolts or public governance controversies linked personally to him, and commentary has focused more on the strategic direction of ABB than on his conduct.

~*~

Other activities and perspectives

🌍 External roles and policy engagement. Beyond his responsibilities within ABB, Wierod participates in broader industrial and policy forums. He is a member of the European Round Table for Industry (ERT), a group of chief executives and chairs from major European companies that engages with policymakers on competitiveness, industrial strategy and sustainability. In addition, he serves as an Agenda Contributor for the World Economic Forum, where he has written on topics such as the role of electrification in the race to net-zero emissions. These activities place him among the voices arguing for industrial policy frameworks that support both decarbonisation and economic growth.

🔁 One-company career and leadership philosophy. A distinctive feature of Wierod’s biography is his almost uninterrupted career at ABB, from joining as a young engineer in Norway to becoming CEO more than a quarter-century later. He has referred to himself as a “lifelong ABB-er”, highlighting the depth of his institutional knowledge and relationships within the group. Commentators have suggested that his Norwegian background – with cultural emphases on humility, consensus-building and pragmatism – aligns with ABB’s decentralised governance and focus on long-term industrial solutions. In public discussions he frequently returns to the theme that “lean and clean are perfect partners”, arguing that technology-driven efficiency and environmental performance can reinforce each other and should guide both corporate strategy and industrial policy. As ABB continues to invest in electrification, automation and digitalisation, assessments of Wierod’s legacy are likely to focus on how successfully he sustains growth, drives innovation and positions the group in an increasingly electrified and AI-enabled industrial landscape.