sir ian clark wood, (born 21 july 1942) is a scottish businessman and philanthropist. he is best known for his work in the north sea oil industry with wood group, which he was largely responsible for transforming from a company of modest size, serving a primarily local market, to a large corporation with operations in over 50 countries. he served as wood group's chief executive from 1967 to 2006, and as chairman until 2012. wood is one of scotland's wealthiest people, with an estimated net worth of around £2.15 billion (2015).