Cargill has named Rishi Varma corporate senior vice president, chief legal and compliance officer and corporate secretary, effective Jan. 29. In this role, he will also serve as general counsel. Varma succeeds Anna Richo, who will transition to corporate senior vice president, strategic advisor to the general counsel and CEO until her retirement in September.
Varma joins Cargill from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where he serves as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. While at HPE, he oversaw corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, commercial contracting, supply chain matters, litigation, intellectual property and corporate securities.
He also played an integral role in the legal separation of Hewlett Packard Company into Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP Inc. Prior, Varma was general counsel for two publicly traded companies – TPC Group, Inc., a petrochemical company, and Trico Marine Services, Inc., a global subsea service provider. At Trico, he also served in additional management roles, including chief operating officer and president. Varma holds a bachelor of science degree in political science from Georgetown University and a J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
“We are thrilled to welcome Rishi, a highly respected attorney and business leader, to Cargill,” said Brian Sikes, Cargill board chair, president and CEO. “His commitment to operational excellence and ensuring this is achieved in compliance with the highest legal and ethical standards builds on our strong culture of integrity.”
“We will miss Anna’s contributions and leadership,” Sikes said. “Anna led with purpose and passion to transform and integrate our legal, compliance, government relations, corporate governance, security, and shareholder relations functions to operate with a strong focus on the customer. Her contributions strengthened our diverse and inclusive culture and will leave a lasting mark on the company.”
For more news of interest to the food and beverage industry, subscribe to Gourmet News.