Chemical and specialty materials company Celanese Corp. recently announced a new addition to its executive leadership team. Todd Elliott, who retired from Celanese in 2020 as senior vice president (SVP) and head of the Acetyls business, will return to the company as SVP to lead the Engineered Materials (EM) business, effective February 3, 2025. Elliott will succeed Tom Kelly, who is stepping down as SVP, Engineered Materials and will serve in a transition role through March 10, 2025.

Elliott had a diverse and successful career with Celanese, progressing through multiple leadership roles in Business, Sales and Corporate Development. In addition to leading the Acetyls business, he oversaw the Acetate Tow business, the company’s European regional center, and commercial operations of the EM business. While head of global sales for EM, he was instrumental in launching the customer project pipeline model which has been foundational for the company’s focus on value creation.

For the last five years, Elliott has been an independent consultant to clients in the chemicals and polymers industry, providing advisory services related to M&A, financial and operational analysis, end-use applications, and commercial go-to-market strategies.

“Celanese will benefit from Todd’s deep industry knowledge, track record of success and fresh perspectives, which make him uniquely well-suited to lead the Engineered Materials business at this time,” said Scott Richardson, president and CEO. “His engineered polymer experience, extensive history with our operating models, and understanding of our customers and end-use markets will allow Todd to hit the ground running. The Celanese Board of Directors and management team are confident he is the right leader to enhance operational efficiency, strengthen our competitive position and drive improved growth and profitability.”

“I want to thank Tom for his service to Celanese over the last six years, and over the next few months to facilitate a smooth leadership transition,” said Richardson. 

Richardson concluded, “I am confident we are taking the right steps to meet the challenges ahead. Under the direction of the board, we are taking bold actions and moving with urgency to strengthen the company’s competitive position and deliver the performance our employees, customers, and shareholders expect. This includes aggressively reducing our cost structure to match demand conditions, continuing our relentless focus on deploying capital to deleverage the balance sheet, and prudently reducing risk in our capital structure. This work will position Celanese for significant upside potential, drive free cash flow and create sustained value for shareholders.”

Elliott joined Celanese in 1987 in a district sales role. He quickly rose through increasing leadership opportunities in regional sales, business analysis, investor relations, and corporate development. He led the Acetate Tow business before becoming SVP of global sales for both Acetyls and EM in 2016. In 2017, he became SVP and global commercial leader for EM and head of Celanese Europe until 2018. At that time, he was elevated to SVP of Acetyls and is credited with transforming the Acetyls operating model to a differentiated focus on downstream derivatives optionality that has redefined the value of the Acetyls business. Elliott earned his undergraduate degree at Westminster College and his MBA at Fontbonne University.

Additional information about Celanese is available at www.celanese.com.