Lourenco Goncalves
Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer
Executive
11 yr
4 reports
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. ·CLF
Founder-style CEO with tightly centralized functional control
Materials · Fortune #221 · Functional structure · 30K employees · Cleveland, OH
View as of:
4
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 8)
4
Avg span
moderate
2
Max depth
2 levels
6 yr
Avg tenure
↑ 1.0yr from FY2024
25%
Internal hires
↓ below industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2025 · period end 2025-12-31 · 10-K
Revenue
$18.6B
Operating income
$-1579000000
Net income
$-1478000000
Total assets
$20.0B
Shares out
570M
Sourced from Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. DEF 14A · filed 2026-04-02 ↗ View on SEC
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Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. organizational chart
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Founder-style CEO Lourenco Goncalves directly oversees all major functions, with no divisional presidents. This page details Cleveland-Cliffs’ functional structure, executive team, compensation, recent leadership changes, and peer comparisons.
What to model
Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines
Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.
Latest signal Douglas C. Taylor departed as Lead Director
Resigned effective February 22, 2026 following change in primary occupation.
Source · See change logScenario views in the chart
- Add Chief AI Officer Introduce a Chief AI Officer reporting to the CEO to centralize automation, analytics and AI across mining and steel operations.
- COO Departure: Succession Gap Models the removal of the COO role, forcing operations to report directly to the CEO and increasing CEO span.
Atlas work this supports
- Connect Workday or UKG Get these analytics for YOUR org — tenure, span of control, headcount, automatically from your HRIS.
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- Plan a Reorg Use this as a starting point. Model scenarios, compare structures, present options to your board.
The people
Who's running this
5 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.
internal
Celso L. Goncalves Jr.
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Finance
6 yr
0 reports
Clifford T. Smith
Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Operations
4 yr
0 reports
Keith A. Koci
Executive Vice President & President, Cleveland-Cliffs Services
Services
5 yr
0 reports
James D. Graham
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal & Administrative Officer & Secretary
Legal
8 yr
0 reports
The pay
Executive compensation
From the most recent DEF 14A Summary Compensation Table. 1 named executive officers disclosed. Bar length scales with total compensation.
Lourenco Goncalves $19.0M
- Base salary
- $2.20M
- Stock awards
- $3.35M
- Non-equity incentive
- $12.87M
- Pension change
- $496K
- Other
- $106K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
The skin in the game
Beneficial ownership
Insider stock holdings and the company's ownership requirements for executives and directors. Disclosed in the most recent DEF 14A.
Stock ownership requirements
15×CEO base salary
6×Director cash retainer
CEO ownership guideline set at multiple of base salary; directors at 6x annual retainer.
The businesses
How Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. divides the work
4 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.
Operations
20K employees
Chief Operating Officer (Clifford T. Smith)
Responsible for mining, steelmaking, finishing operations and supply chain execution.
Finance
800 employees
Chief Financial Officer (Celso L. Goncalves Jr.)
Oversees financial reporting, treasury, capital markets and investor relations.
Cleveland-Cliffs Services
3K employees
President, Cleveland-Cliffs Services (Keith A. Koci)
Provides logistics, processing, downstream services and shared capabilities.
Legal & Administration
400 employees
Chief Legal & Administrative Officer (James D. Graham)
Handles legal, governance, compliance, HR administration and corporate services.
The thesis
Why this org is unusual
Founder-style CEO Lourenco Goncalves retains unusually centralized control, with all major functions reporting directly to him.
The structure is purely functional, with no divisional CEOs or regional presidents, even though Cleveland-Cliffs operates across mining, steelmaking and downstream services.
This design concentrates operational, financial, legal and services authority at the CEO level. The COO oversees all steelmaking and mining operations, while Services is separated as a standalone EVP role rather than embedded within Operations. Finance and Legal remain classic functional pillars without intermediate presidents, reinforcing a short chain of command.
- All core functions report directly to CEO
- No divisional or regional presidents
The comparison
How Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. stacks up
Compared with other North American steelmakers, Cleveland-Cliffs is more centralized. Peers such as Nucor and Steel Dynamics distribute authority to divisional or product presidents with P&L ownership. Cleveland-Cliffs instead relies on a strong COO model. This structure aligns with Lourenco Goncalves’ long tenure …
C-suite size
Reporting depth
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
2 levels
5 levels
5 levels
U.S. Steel
6 levels
ArcelorMittal
6 levels
Avg C-suite tenure
Has COO / Has CAIO
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. ✓ COO — no CAIO
U.S. Steel ✓ COO — no CAIO
ArcelorMittal ✓ COO — no CAIO
Current signals
What changed recently
Board leadership shifted in Feb 2026 with Douglas Taylor’s resignation and Ralph Michael’s appointment as Lead Director.
- departedDouglas C. Taylor Lead Director
Resigned effective February 22, 2026 following change in primary occupation.
Source - promoted
Leadership Timeline
Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.
FY2025
DEF 14A filed 2026-04-02
- CEO
- Lourenco Goncalves
- CEO span
- 4
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 6 yr
Leadership remained stable with a tightly centralized CEO-led structure.
Named executive officers (5)
- Lourenco Goncalves - Chairman, President & CEO since 2014
- Celso L. Goncalves Jr. - EVP & CFO since 2019
- Clifford T. Smith - EVP & COO since 2022
- Keith A. Koci - EVP & President, Services since 2021
- James D. Graham - EVP, Chief Legal Officer since 2018
FY2024
DEF 14A filed 2025-04-02
- CEO
- Lourenco Goncalves
- CEO span
- 4
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 5 yr
No major C-suite changes year over year.
Named executive officers (1)
- Lourenco Goncalves - Chairman, President & CEO since 2014
FY2023
DEF 14A filed 2024-04-01
- CEO
- Lourenco Goncalves
- CEO span
- 4
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 5 yr
Continued founder-style leadership continuity.
Named executive officers (1)
- Lourenco Goncalves - Chairman, President & CEO since 2014
Year-over-year changes
Executive structure remained unchanged with incremental tenure increases.
- CEO span: 4 → 4
- C-suite size: 5 → 5
- Avg tenure: 5 → 6 yr
The board
Board of directors
8 directors. 7 of 8 independent (88%). Source: most recent DEF 14A.
Lourenco Goncalves
Chair Inside
Chairman, President & CEO, Cleveland-Cliffs
Ralph S. Michael, III
Lead Indep. Independent
John T. Baldwin
Independent
Ron A. Bloom
Independent
Edilson T. Camara
Independent
Jane M. Cronin
Independent
Ben Oren
Independent
Arlene M. Yocum
Independent
The board, organized
Board committees
4 standing committees. Audit and Compensation must be 100% independent under SEC rules; the rest vary.
Audit Committee
100% independent 8 mtgs/yr
- Jane M. Cronin
- Ben Oren
- Arlene M. Yocum
Compensation and Organization Committee
100% independent 6 mtgs/yr
- John T. Baldwin
- Ralph S. Michael, III
Governance and Nominating Committee
100% independent 5 mtgs/yr
- Ron A. Bloom
Strategy and Sustainability Committee
75% independent 5 mtgs/yr
- Ron A. Bloom
- Arlene M. Yocum
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs?
Lourenco Goncalves has served as Chairman, President and CEO since 2014.
What type of organizational structure does Cleveland-Cliffs use?
Cleveland-Cliffs operates a functional organizational structure with centralized executive control.
How many direct reports does Cleveland-Cliffs's CEO have?
The CEO has four direct reports covering operations, finance, services, and legal.
How has Cleveland-Cliffs's leadership changed recently?
In February 2026, Lead Director Douglas Taylor resigned and Ralph Michael III was appointed Lead Director.
Does Cleveland-Cliffs have a COO?
Yes. Clifford T. Smith serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
Sources
- 8-K Filing, Feb 2026
- SEC EDGAR: Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. DEF 14A Proxy Statement
- SEC EDGAR: Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. 10-K Annual Report
Reference
Cite this page
If you reference this page in research, analysis, or news writing, use one of the formats below. Citation includes the SEC filing source where applicable.
APA 7th
Creately. (2026). Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/cleveland-cliffs/MLA 9th
"Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/cleveland-cliffs/. Accessed .Chicago 17
Creately. "Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/cleveland-cliffs/.Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.. DEF 14A. Filed 2026-04-02. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/764065/000076406526000054/clf-20260402.htmPermanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/cleveland-cliffs/ · last updated 2026-04-01