Cleveland-Cliffs Headquarters Could Move to Pittsburgh if Successful in U.S. Steel Acquisition

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The headquarters of steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs could move from its namesake city to Pittsburgh if Cliffs is successful in acquiring US Steel, Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said. But a Cleveland City Hall source today said Mayor Justin Bibb spoke with Goncalves who reportedly reassured him that relocating Cliffs 1,000-plus staff persons from Cleveland at this stage is just speculation.

Goncalves made his remarks about moving the headquarters during  a press conference yesterday at Cliffs’ Butler, PA plant. The press conference dwelled extensively on his company’s efforts to acquire U.S. Steel and become the nation’s largest steelmaker. Those efforts were bolstered last week by the Biden Administration blocking Japan-based Nippon Steel’s bid for Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel.

Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel have sued the U.S. departments of Commerce and Treasury, namely the latter’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, for finding against the acquisition on national security concerns. But incoming President Donald Trump said he, too, opposes Nippon’s bid to preserve American ownership of steelmaking.

Nippon also sued Cliffs and Goncalves, alleging interference.  Cliffs renewed its 2023 effort to acquire US Steel, joining forces with rival Nucor Corp. of Charlotte, with Nucor taking over U.S. Steel’s Big River Steel plant in Arkansas and Cliffs getting the rest of U.S. Steel. Goncalves touted his all-cash offer for U.S. Steel.

“We have an all-American solution,”  Goncalves said yesterday in response to a reporter’s question about his bid to acquire U.S. Steel. “Don’t try to squeeze me on the details because I’m not going to give you any details.”

He said any details would be speculative at this stage, just as he reportedly told Bibb. But as he talked more, the outspoken CEO increasingly began to share some details, including his desire to shed the name Cleveland Cliffs. The company was founded in Cleveland in 1847. He said the name U.S. Steel was more “iconic” and more “powerful” than Cleveland-Cliffs.

“In my mind, the name of the surviving entity will be U.S. Steel. Cliffs will be part of the United States Steel Corporation. Not very different than when Nations Bank acquired Bank of America,” he said. “Nations Bank decided to keep the name Bank of America because they believe that Bank of America was more powerful than Nations Bank. I must confess, the name United States Steel must survive.”

Then he discussed the headquarters situation and a relocation of C-suite executives like the chief executive officer, chief financial officer and chief operating officer. He began by talking about his own residency.

“I will relocate to Pittsburgh and US Steel will finally have a CEO residing in Pittsburgh because the existing one (David Burritt) resides in Peoria, Illinois,” Goncalves continued. “And the CFO resides in Connecticut. And the general counsel resides in Florida. Guess what? The CEO? You move to Pittsburgh.

“The CFO (Jessica Graziano), where are you going to live? The COO, Cliff Smith, is not here. So because he’s not here, I will fill in for him. He’ll move to Pittsburgh. The general counsel James Graham is going to move to Pittsburgh,” Goncalves said.

“And the headquarters will be in Pittsburgh,” he said. “And by the way, that name on top of the building, whatever name they have (UPMC – the HQ of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center), prepare to take it down because I’m going to put U.S. Steel Corporation at the top.”

Goncalves also said the company’s iron ore mining and shipping operations, which was Cliffs’ original function, would retain the Cliffs name. Iron ore is a raw material in traditional steel making. Cliffs avoids producing recycled steel which is regarded to be of lower quality.

Yesterday morning, before the press conference, Goncalves and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro spoke on the phone, both men said. Shapiro’s staff then released a press statement regarding their phone call.

”Lourenco Goncalves, the CEO of steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs, has made clear that he intends to make a bid for U.S. Steel, and in conversations with the Governor, he has made meaningful commitments to Pennsylvania — including moving his headquarters to Pittsburgh,” the statement read.

“Before the Governor would even consider endorsing any potential deal, Cleveland Cliffs needs to make a formal bid to buy U.S. Steel and present specific details on what it will do to protect Pennsylvania jobs for the long term,” Shapiro’s office continued.

No similar comments were issued by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine regarding Cliffs’ headquarters situation. NEOtrans reached out to spokespersons for Cliffs and Mayor Bibb for comment but neither responded prior to publication of this article.

A year ago,  NEOtrans broke the story that Cleveland Cliffs had extended its lease by 10 years at is current headquarters, 200 Public Square in Downtown Cleveland. It also expanded its leased office space in the tower to about 100,000 square feet for the growing company. Cliffs did not continue its post-pandemic remote work policy, so all of its 1,000-plus HQ workers are in the building each day.

Two Cleveland companies founded in the 19th century also moved their headquarters along with most, if not all of their staff out of Cleveland after acquisition efforts. Standard Oil of Ohio (Sohio), founded in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller, was acquired in 1987 in its entirety by British Petroleum of America, then merged with Amoco in 1998, relocating its headquarters to Chicago. Sohio built the 200 Public Square tower in 1985.

National City, founded in 1845, was acquired by Pittsburgh-based PNC in 2008 after National City incurred untenable loan losses during the subprime mortgage crisis. PNC retains a significant office staff at National City’s former headquarters tower at East 9th Street and Euclid Avenue in Downtown Cleveland. But the loss of a long-time corporate institution still hurt.



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