Nucor has promoted Stephen Laxton to president and chief operating officer, effective Jan. 1. Laxton will remain in his role as chief financial officer of the Charlotte-based steel company until a successor is named.
Laxton, 54, joined Nucor in 2003 as general manager of business development and has been the chief financial officer and executive vice president since 2022.
Laxton succeeds David Sumoski, who announced his plans to retire. Sumoski, 59, will step down from his COO role on Jan. 1, and continue with the company as executive vice president until his June 13 retirement. Sumoski joined Nucor in 1995 as an electrical supervisor at Nucor Steel Berkeley in Huger, South Carolina. He had other assignments in Ohio and Tennessee before being named executive vice president in 2014. He has been the chief operating officer since 2021.
“Over the past 22 years, Steve has demonstrated exceptional leadership and strategic vision and has been instrumental to Nucor’s success. Steve’s new role as president and COO will give him an opportunity to have an even greater impact, and I look forward to working with him in this next chapter of his leadership,” said Leon Topalian, Nucor’s chair and CEO since 2020. “Dave’s retirement and Steve’s promotion reflect our ongoing succession planning process that has been a strategic priority throughout Nucor for many years.”
As part of the promotion, Laxton will see his base salary increase to $1 million. Laxton had a base salary of $702,650 in 2024, and total compensation of $6.9 million that year, according to its 2025 proxy statement. The median wage for Nucor employees in 2024 was $98,334.
Nucor reported $30.7 billion in sales in 2024 and $2 billion in earnings. It had 32,700 employees in 2024, compared to 31,600 the year before, according to its most recent annual report. Nucor shares were trading around $162 on Thursday, and have traded between $97.59 and $166.27 in the past year. Shares are up 38.8% from Jan. 1. Nucor has a market capitalisation of $37 billion.
Next year marks the 60th year since Ken Iverson and Sam Siegel moved the company headquarters from Phoenix to Charlotte. Nucor currently has around 270 employees in Charlotte, and a total of more than 1,000 when adding in the Hertford County plate steel mill, new Lexington rebar mill and a half-dozen scrap recycling and rebar fabrication locations, according to a company spokesperson.