Sam Walsh AO (born 27 December 1949) is an Australian businessman who was elected to the Mitsui & Co board as a non-executive Director on 21 June 2017.

Prior to this he was chief executive officer (CEO) of London-based mining company Rio Tinto Group, from 2013 to 2016.

Based in the Australian city of Perth, he oversaw company's mining operations and expansions in Pilbara, Western Australia.

[3] After graduating in commerce from Melbourne University, Walsh began his career as a trainee buyer at General Motors.

[4] During the next 20 years in the automotive industry, he was promoted to and held senior positions at General Motors and at Nissan Australia.

[3] His responsibilities covered operations and projects in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Guinea and India, as well as Dampier Salt and Rio Tinto Marine.

[8] On 27 March 2014, Walsh was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Commerce at the graduation ceremony of The University of Western Australia.

Du Plessis revealed Jean-Sebastien Jacques, whom Walsh appointed to head Rio Tinto copper and coal, would be the new CEO.

[11] In November 2016, Walsh was one of two former Rio Tinto Chief Executives linked through leaked emails of former Rio Tinto executive Alan Davies to a payment of $10.5 million USD payment to a consultant Francois de Combret associated with the development of the Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea.

The choice of the mining plan was driven by access to less than 10 Million Tonnes of high grade iron ore for an incremental value of $138m.

[16] Sam Walsh appeared on ABC 7.30 Report with presenter Leigh Sales ahead of the G20 Leaders Summit in Brisbane, November 2014.

As CEO of the second largest mining company in the world, Walsh welcomed the deal between the US and China to reduce carbon emissions.

[17] Walsh acknowledged Rio Tinto supported market based mechanisms to reduce carbon emissions.

Political stability provided business with the certainty required to achieve the G20 finance managers target of increasing world GDP by two per cent for the following five years.

Walsh also identified government infrastructure investment geared to trade, anti-corruption agreements, and tax reforms as important issues for economic growth.