Biography

D. Michael Wilson

Michael is a corporate executive in the global specialty chemicals and materials industries with over two decades of successful leadership running billion-dollar organizations. He has an outstanding track record delivering both top- and bottom-line results and is particularly adept in enacting organizational transformation to drive growth. Michael’s areas of expertise include strategic development, change management, operational excellence, sustainability, enterprise turnarounds and mergers and acquisitions. 

Through the combination of Prince International, Chromaflo Technologies and Ferro Corporation, Michael became the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Vibrantz Technologies, a leading specialty chemicals and materials company, in April of 2022. Prior to Vibrantz, he served as president and CEO of Prince International and director of ASP holdings since November 2020.

From 2015 to 2020, Michael was president and CEO of Ingevity, a leading specialty chemicals solutions provider with $1.3 billion in revenues and 1,850 employees globally. He led the company’s spin-off from WestRock in 2016, which was named Forbes #1 Spin-Off of 2016, and its subsequent quadrupling in market capitalization to an enterprise value of more than $4.5 billion. During his tenure, he led growth in revenues from approximately $900 million in 2016 to $1.3 billion in fiscal 2019, shepherded the company through three major acquisitions, and more than doubled the company’s earnings. He was instrumental in defining Ingevity’s core purpose, establishing its culture, launching an inaugural sustainability program, and improving the company’s environmental, health and safety performance, ultimately helping land the company in the top quartile of American Chemistry Council performance.

Previously, Michael was executive vice president at Albemarle and president of the $1.6 billion Performance Chemicals global business unit, including the lithium, bromine, curatives and organometallics and derivative catalysts franchises. Reporting to the CEO, he oversaw 3,000 employees in 15 manufacturing locations on five continents. He also spent two years as senior vice president and president of the Catalyst Solutions global business unit. Michael’s accomplishments led to revenue growth of nine percent, almost triple the industry rate, and segment income growth of 15 percent.

For more than 15 years, Michael held executive roles with FMC, including executive vice president and president of the $1 billion Specialty Chemicals group, corporate vice president and general manager of the Industrial Chemicals group, and division manager for the lithium division. During his tenure, he delivered record biopolymer earnings, significantly broadened the food ingredients platform, and executed major capacity expansions in the biopolymer and lithium businesses. The Industrial Chemicals group delivered $550 million in revenue and $170 million in earnings growth under his leadership. He also led the development and initiation of FMC’s corporate sustainability program that focused on safety, innovation, talent growth, resource efficiencies and the formation of philanthropic community partnerships. He provided corporate-wide regional leadership for Asia and central and eastern Europe and Turkey.

Michael has served on the board of directors of Vulcan Materials Company and several professional organizations, including the American Chemistry Council, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Philadelphia and Charleston Metro Chambers of Commerce. He is a committed philanthropist, having established the Michael and Pam Wilson Family Fund, which most recently instituted dollar-for-dollar matching programs to benefit the Lowcountry Food Bank, the South Carolina Aquarium, and Reading Partners South Carolina. The Family Fund is also underwriting the Michael and Pam Wilson Plastic Free Waters initiative at the South Carolina Aquarium. Michael previously served on the board of directors for Trident United Way of greater Charleston and the board and finance committee of Philabundance, Philadelphia’s largest hunger-relief organization.

SKILLSET

Strategy development | Change management |. Mergers and acquisitions | Culture change | Operational excellence | Enterprise turnarounds | Investor relations

D. MICHAEL WILSON

vibrantz technologies, PRESIDENT and CEO

2022 - Present

In April 2022, Michael became the president and CEO of Vibrantz Technologies, the newly formed company from the combination of Prince, Chromaflo and Ferro. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, with 5,400 employees and offices and facilities on six continents, Vibrantz is a leading global provider of specialty chemicals and materials whose purpose is to bring color, performance and vibrancy to life in countless products across a broad array of markets and end-use applications.

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PRINCE INTERNATIONAL, President and CEO

2020 - 2022

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, with manufacturing facilities and sales offices on six continents, Prince is a world-class producer of engineered additives for niche applications and is a value-added processing intermediary between large global raw material suppliers and end customers. Prince specializes in developing, manufacturing, and marketing performance-critical additives for niche applications utilized in the construction, electronics, consumer products, agriculture, automotive, oil & gas, heavy equipment, industrial, and similar end markets. www.princecorp.com

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INGEVITY, PRESIDENT and CEO

2015 - 2020

Ingevity (NYSE: NGVT) is a global specialty chemical and performance materials leader with revenues of ~$1.3B and 1,800 global employees. With a stated purpose to Purify, Protect, and Enhance, the company serves customers in more than 60 countries through 9 operating sites in the United States, The United Kingdom, and China and has R&D facilities in the United States, France, India and China. A legacy MeadWestvaco company, spun out of WestRock Company in May 2016.

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ALBEMARLE CORPORATION, Executive vice President AND PRESIDENT - PERFORMANCE CHEMICALS

2015 - 2015

Responsible for all aspects of the ~$1.6B Performance Chemicals global business unit (GBU) composed of the lithium, bromine, curatives and organometallics and derivative catalysts franchises, reporting to the CEO. The GBU has ~3,000 employees with 15 manufacturing locations on five continents. Served on the Boards of Directors for Talison Lithium and Jordan Bromine Company.

ALBEMARLE CORPORATION, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT - CATALYST SOLUTIONS

2013 - 2015

Global leader with full P&L responsibility for the $1.2B+ Catalyst Solutions GBU, reporting to the CEO. Served on the Boards of Directors for Nippon-Ketjen (Japan – partner Sumitomo) and FCC-SA (Brazil - Petrobras) joint ventures.

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FMC, PRESIDENT – SPECIALTY CHEMICALS GROUP

1997 - 2013

Corporate Executive Committee member reporting to the Chairman & CEO with global leadership and P&L responsibility for the ~$1.0B Specialty Chemicals Group, comprised of the BioPolymer (pharmaceutical and food ingredients) and Lithium businesses with 1500+ employees and 19 facilities in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Corporate leadership responsibility for Asia and CEET regions as well as FMC’s Sustainability program. Chaired the FMC Philanthropy committee.