D. James (Jim) Umpleby III is chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Caterpillar Inc.
Umpleby joined Solar Turbines, a Caterpillar subsidiary, in 1980 as an associate engineer. In his more than 40 years with the company, he has gained extensive industry and international experience through various leadership roles. Umpleby was appointed president of Solar Turbines and vice president of Caterpillar in 2010. From 2013 to 2016, he led Caterpillar’s Energy & Transportation business segment as group president. Umpleby has served as Caterpillar’s CEO since January 1, 2017. He was elected chairman of Caterpillar’s board of directors in December 2018.
As chairman and CEO, Umpleby leads a team of about 112,900 employees in 63 countries. He launched the company’s strategy for profitable growth and is overseeing its successful execution. The strategy’s areas of focus are operational excellence, expanded offerings, services and sustainability, which build on what Caterpillar has done since its founding in 1925 – driving positive change on every continent.
With 2024 revenues of $64.8 billion, the Irving, Texas-based company is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. Whether our customers are building the world’s infrastructure, mining essential commodities, or extracting the fuels to satisfy global energy demand, Caterpillar helps them build a better, more sustainable world.
Umpleby graduated from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He completed an executive leadership program at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland. He serves on the board of the Chevron Corporation, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum and the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Jim is a trustee of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and he is a member of Business Roundtable, The Business Council, and the National Petroleum Council.
