Gerard Barron

Career

1. 2021 – now
   TMC the metals companysrc
   Chairman & CEO
   Since the business combination with Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp. closed 2021-09-09
2. 2017 – 2021
   DeepGreen Metalssrc
   Chairman & CEO
   The 2026 proxy says both that he 'stepped into' the role in 2018 and that he advised the board until becoming Chairman & CEO in 2017; the TMCR 20-F says CEO since 2017
3. 2013 – 2017
   DeepGreen Metalssrc
   Strategic advisor to the board and shareholders
   From July 2013; he had been involved in DeepGreen's early strategic development and financing since its formation in 2011
4. 2001 – 2013
   Adstreamsrc
   Founder & CEO
   Advertising technology and services provider; grew from one Sydney office to 40+ offices in 30 countries and over $100m revenue a year, per the proxy. CEO until December 2013
5. 2001 – 2007
   Nautilus Mineralssrc
   Early investor
   The proxy calls him a 'first money investor' in Nautilus and Sirtex Medical; the search summary puts his exit in 2007 with a $226,000 stake grown to $31m. Not in a filing

Not located: Before 2001 (university and a first venture) not located in any filing; the proxy's own dates for his DeepGreen CEO start (2017 vs 2018) disagree

Achievements

• Founded Adstream in 2001 and ran it as CEO until December 2013, growing it to 40+ offices in 30 countriessrc
• Took DeepGreen public through the September 2021 SPAC merger with Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp.; Chairman and CEO sincesrc
• Under him TMC USA filed two exploration licence applications and one commercial recovery permit application with NOAA under DSHMRA in April 2025src
• Testified as an expert witness to the House Natural Resources oversight subcommittee on deep-sea mining on 2025-04-29src
• Holds 30.8m shares including exercisable options, 6.9% of TMC, per his September 2026 13D/Asrc

Education

• University of Southern Queensland, Business degree Businesssrc

Background

• Family The 2026 proxy states there are no Item 401(d) family relationships among directors or executive officerssrc
• Founder Not named a founder in the filings: the proxy says he was involved in DeepGreen's early strategic development and financing from its 2011 formation; the TMCR 20-F says he played a key role in its early formation and financingsrc
• Investing Early investor in Nautilus Minerals (the first deep-sea mining listing) and Sirtex Medical, per the proxy; press reports a large gain on Nautilus before its exitsrc
• Boards Director of Metals Royalty Co Inc. (TMCR, formerly Low Carbon Royalties, which holds a royalty on TMC's NORI-D project and in which TMC owns more than 5%) since 2023-02-21src
• Investing Personal lender to TMC: party with director Karkar's family fund to the 2024 unsecured credit facility, now up to $22m from each lender, maturity extended to 2027-06-30src
• Legal Named with CFO Shesky in the Lin v. TMC securities class action (filed 2024-11-08) over the 2023 royalty accounting and restatement; dismissed with prejudice 2026-01-20, no appealsrc
• In the press The public face of the US-permit route to deep-sea mining; ABC Four Corners profiled his turn toward the Trump administration in September 2025src
• Other His 2024 employment agreement is with the subsidiary DeepGreen Metals UAEsrc