Elizabeth Gaines is an experienced CEO and CFO who has held positions across industries in different states.
Ms Gaines joined Fortescue Metals Group in February 2013 as an executive director and chief financial officer before becoming chief executive in February 2018. She stepped down from the role in August 2022 and remains with Fortescue Metals Group as a non-executive director, and became a global ambassador for Fortescue Future Industries. Ms Gaines also joined the board of West Coast Eagles in January 2022 and is the first woman to be appointed deputy chair, recognising her commitment to diversity and inclusiveness.
Ms Gaines was a former chief executive of Helloworld (formerly Jetset Travelworld), chief financial officer of Jetset and Stella Group. Other roles included UK-based Entertainment Rights and was chief executive officer of WA pastoral and wine business Heytesbury from 1997 to 2005. Ms Gaines has held senior treasury and finance roles at BankWest in Australia and Kleinwort Benson in the UK and qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young.
Ms Gaines was ranked second in the 2019 Fortune Magazine’s Businessperson of the Year. In 2020, she was awarded the ‘Women in Resources Champion’ at the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia's annual Women in Resources Awards, and Joint Australian Business Person of the Year by the Australian Financial Review.
She is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Applied Finance.
