Why Skills-First Leadership Is Replacing the Ivy League Playbook in the C-Suite
05/23/2025
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The old prestige pyramid—where Ivy League degrees and blue-chip consulting backgrounds paved the way to the CEO seat—is cracking.
September 26, 2023: Oplinger is 56 years old, who has also joined the board of directors. He takes over from Roy Harvey, who will now operate as a strategic advisor to the CEO until the end of the year. Oplinger had been serving as Alcoa’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer since February.
The company’s stock experienced a decline of better than 5% in early trading following this leadership transition. Alcoa cited the change as part of its “succession planning process.”
Steven Williams, the company’s non-executive Chairman of the Board, praised Roy Harvey’s role in guiding Alcoa since its transformation into a publicly traded company in November 2016.
He expressed confidence in Bill Oplinger’s extensive experience within Alcoa and his ability to lead the company.
Alcoa, based in Pittsburgh, underwent a split into two publicly traded entities in 2016, leading to the current version of the company. Before this, Oplinger had served as Chief Financial Officer and oversaw various aspects of the business, including mining, refining, smelting, and energy. Roy Harvey had been the President since May 2017.
In response to his new role, Oplinger expressed his honor in leading a company with a rich legacy and emphasized a focus on executing strategies to create immediate value while working towards a long-term vision to innovate the aluminum industry for sustainability.
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