Michael Cojerian joined Fortescue in March 2022 as Country Manager for Japan, Korea and Taiwan. He has a background in the energy and commodities industries with a focus on Asia. He started his career working for the Japanese trading company, ITOCHU, in New York, trading metals and mineral resources. Michael moved to Japan in 2016 to become the Country President for BHP Japan. He served on the board of BMA Japan, the Japanese entity of the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance coal mining joint venture.

In 2021 Michael shifted into the renewable energy sector by joining Canadian Solar as Representative Director of its Japanese solar project developer subsidiary, Canadian Solar Projects. He also served as Representative Director of Canadian Solar O&M, which operated Canadian Solar’s power plants in Japan, and as Representative Director of Canadian Solar Asset Management, the entity that managed the solar projects owned by Canadian Solar Infrastructure Fund, an US$800m Japan real estate investment trust listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.