George W. Buckley

Sir George William Buckley (born 23 February 1947) is a British businessman. He is the former chairman, president, and chief executive of 3M. He was named to these positions on 7 December 2005.

Sir George is Chairman of Ownership Capital B.V., Chairman of Arle Capital LLP, Chairman of Smiths Group plc, and Chairman of Expro International.

Buckley came to 3M from Brunswick Corporation where he served as chairman and chief executive officer since June 2000. Prior to leading Brunswick, Buckley was with Emerson Electric Company as the president of its U.S.-based Electrical Motors Division and the Automotive and Precision Motors Division. He also served as chief technology officer for Emerson’s worldwide group of motor and appliance-related businesses.

Born and raised in Sheffield, he was apprenticed as an electrician, eventually progressing to a BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Huddersfield. He also holds a PhD in Engineering studied jointly at the University of Huddersfield and the University of Southampton, and an honorary DSc in Engineering from the University of Huddersfield. Buckley was knighted in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to industry.

In a 2009 letter to 3M shareholders, George W. Buckley discussed the actions he had taken in response to the economic climate, including cutting jobs. Buckley remarked that the layoffs that would number "as many as necessary but as few as possible," as well as how 3M "used furloughs, pay cuts, overtime bans, mandatory vacations and stringent incidental cost control to limit the number of layoffs, but in the end some were needed." He reassured shareholders that "In a 5% recession there is still 95% of the business left and winning an increasing share of that business has to be our focus.".

While CEO of 3M in 2008, Buckley earned a total compensation of $12,182,410; which included a base salary of $1,720,000; a cash bonus of $2,844,074; stocks granted of $4,002,421; options granted of $3,363,492; and other compensation of $252,423. In 2009, George Buckley earned a total compensation of $13,992,628, which included a base salary of $1,720,000, a cash bonus of $3,859,112, stocks granted worth $4,333,655, options granted of $3,757,572, and other compensation of $322,289.