Venture Global LNG Hires Wicker as CEO

Venture Global LNG Inc. has hired William M. Wicker to lead the company as CEO. Wicker previously served as Morgan Stanley’s vice chairman of investment banking in the Natural Resources Group.

In addition to general management responsibilities, Wicker will focus on leading the company’s international lines of business and project finance. As an investment banker and energy industry executive, he has conducted business in 26 countries, including Brazil, Russia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Canada, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, France, Germany, and the UK.

Wicker came to Venture Global from Morgan Stanley, where his clients included several major oil companies, state-owned energy companies, and large US independents. Prior to working at Morgan Stanley, he spent seven years at Goldman Sachs, where he was a partner managing director in the Natural Resources Group in New York. In 2005 and 2006, Wicker served as CEO of Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities Co. Ltd. and as co-head of investment banking in Asia Ex-Japan, based in Beijing.

Before Goldman, Wicker was a senior vice president at Texaco, responsible for worldwide refining and marketing, natural gas marketing, lubricants, power and gasification, alternative energy and corporate development. Prior to joining Texaco in 1997, he was a managing director at Credit Suisse First Boston and co-head of the firm’s Global Energy Group. Previous to this position, he was a consultant with McKinsey & Co.

Wicker holds a bachelor’s degree from Union College, a master’s degree from Indiana University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School.