Riley P. Bechtel is the former CEO and chairman of the Board of Directors of Bechtel Group, Inc (BGI).
Riley joined Bechtel in 1966, working summers in various field construction and other jobs while attending school. After receiving a combined JD and MBA degree from Stanford University’s School of Law and Graduate School of Business, he joined the law firm of Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges, where he worked on matters for Bechtel and other clients.
Rejoining Bechtel in 1981, he assumed the role of contract coordinator and later became a piping superintendent at the Belle River Power Plant in Michigan.
Two years later, he served as area superintendent at the Badak LNG Plant in Indonesia, with full responsibility for overseeing all construction activities within one of the two process areas of the plant.
During 1984, he worked as general field superintendent on the New Zealand Gas-to-Gasoline project, directing and organizing field construction activities, including operations, safety, and procurement.
In early 1985, Riley moved to London, where he served as a business development representative pursuing projects in the Middle East, Northern Ireland, and Africa. He became assistant manager of operations for the London Division in late 1985 and division technical manager in early 1986. Later that year, he was named managing director of Bechtel Limited.
He was elected to the BGI Board of Directors in August 1987, and executive vice president three months later.
In March 1989, he was elected president and COO of BGI. He became president and CEO in June 1990, and chairman in January 1996. In February 2014, Riley stepped down as CEO, but, at the Board’s request, continued to serve as non-executive chairman of its Board of Directors until April 2017, when he became a non-executive director.