James C. Fish, Jr.

President and Chief Executive Officer

Director since: 2016

Jim Fish has served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a Director of WM since 2016. Over more than 20 years at WM, Mr. Fish has held several key positions, including President and Chief Financial Officer; Senior Vice President – Eastern Group; Area Vice President for Pennsylvania and West Virginia; Market Area General Manager for Massachusetts and Rhode Island; Vice President of Price Management; and Director of Financial Planning and Analysis.

Before joining WM, Mr. Fish held finance and revenue management positions at Westex, a Yellow-Roadway subsidiary, Trans World Airlines, and America West Airlines. He began his professional career at KPMG Peat Marwick.

Mr. Fish’s extensive leadership and operational experience, together with his tremendous understanding of the environmental services industry, are instrumental to development and successful execution of WM’s growth strategy to deliver stockholder value. Additionally, through his professional and educational experience, Mr. Fish has developed valuable expertise in accounting, external reporting, investor relations, human capital and performance management, and risk management. Mr. Fish oversees WM’s Digital organization, and participates directly in matters related to cybersecurity and information security risk mitigation and response strategies. 

As North America’s largest comprehensive environmental solutions provider, sustainability is embedded in all aspect of WM’s business. As Chief Executive Officer of WM, Mr. Fish has a thorough understanding of the risks and opportunities presented in the areas of sustainability and environmental protection. Mr. Fish is deeply involved in WM’s efforts to mitigate such risks and capitalize on such opportunities in order to deliver on our brand promise, ALWAYS WORKING FOR A SUSTAINABLE TOMORROW®.

Mr. Fish also champions the importance of WM’s People First commitment and the necessity of creating a culture that truly puts the needs of WM employees first. As part of that People First culture, Mr. Fish has been actively involved in developing initiatives to promote inclusion and diversity throughout WM’s population of more than 48,000 employees.

Mr. Fish earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Arizona State University and a master’s degree in business administration, with emphasis on finance, from the University of Chicago. He is also a Certified Public Accountant.