The Brazilian financial newspaper Valor Econômico announced last August 27 the executives who were elected in the 20th edition of the "Valuable Executive" Award. Twenty-three executives were recognized for their leadership and management skills while running their companies in 2019.

WEG´s CEO, Harry Schmelzer Jr., was elected for the 12th consecutive year as the top executive in the Industrial Machinery and Equipment category, accumulating the highest number of trophies within the award history.

The award methodology included 19 economy sectors and also some new categories: successful startup company, chairman of the board of directors, young leadership, digital transformation and social activities.

The choice of names was made by 16 executive selection companies linked to Aesc. Aesc is an international association that brings together companies from the sector in 70 countries. They took into account the executive's vision to be head of the market trends, to build high-performance teams, promote innovation and encourage digital transformation.

This year, due to the covid-19 pandemic, there was no in-person event ceremony. However, the newspaper prepared an online tribute to the winners and made a video available on the Valor Econômico website with testimonials from all those elected executives outlining challenges faced during the pandemic period and required skills for beginners.