Jim Robo said he is stepping down Tuesday after almost 10 years as CEO of NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE), concluding what he characterized a “long-term succession process” he has undertaken with the board of directors during the last six years.

Jim Robo is stepping down after 10 years as NextEra’s CEO. | © RTO Insider LLC

“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as CEO. I’m as excited as I’ve ever been about the future prospects of NextEra Energy and NextEra Energy Partners,” Robo, 59, said during NextEra’s quarterly earnings conference call with financial analysts.

Saying part of a CEO’s legacy is the “new leader in the next-generation leadership team that follows,” Robo introduced as his successor John Ketchum, a 19-year NextEra veteran, CEO of NextEra Energy Resources (NEER) and president of NextEra Energy Partners.

Ketchum said he intends to remain “intensely focused” on delivering and building upon NextEra’s “long track record of success.”

“I believe there is no company better positioned to lead our country’s energy transformation than NextEra Energy,” he told analysts.

John Ketchum | NextEra Energy

Under Robo’s guidance, NextEra has become the world’s largest generator of renewables, operating more than 17 GW of wind and solar energy. With a market cap of over $147 billion, it is bigger than any other utility in the world. However, efforts to acquire other utilities, including Hawaii Electric and Texas’ Oncor, fell short before it acquired Gulf Power from Southern Co. in 2018.

Robo joined NextEra in 2002, becoming CEO in July 2012. Since then, the company’s share price has gone from $17.08 to more than $300 in 2020, surpassing even ExxonMobil before a four-for-one stock split that October.

The company’s share price plunged on the news, dropping 4.5% from $81.87 when the market opened. Shares closed at $75.10, down $6.77 (8.3%).

Robo will serve as NextEra’s executive chairman during a brief transition period expected to end in April.

The Florida-based company announced several other leadership changes, effective March 1:

• Eric Silagy, president and CEO of NextEra subsidiary Florida Power & Light, will become the utility’s chairman.
• CFO Rebecca Kujawa was named president and CEO of NEER, succeeding Ketchum.
• Kirk Crews, NEER’s vice president of business management, was named NextEra’s CFO, replacing Kujawa.

NextEra also reported its fourth-quarter and year-end earnings Tuesday. It said quarterly earnings were $1.2 billion ($0.61/share), compared to 2020’s fourth-quarter loss of $5 million. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 39 cents/share; they came in at 41 cents.

For the year, earnings came in at $3.6 billion ($1.81/share), compared to $2.9 billion ($1.48/share) in 2020.