J. Clay Sell has served as Chief Executive Officer of X-energy since January 2019 and has led the company through a period of dramatic transformation and growth in product development investment, U.S. government funding awards, private capital raised, and customer commitments. Mr. Sell has deep professional expertise across many sectors of the international and U.S. energy industry developed through his service in senior level positions in the private sector and government.

From 2008-2018, Mr. Sell was the president of Hunt Energy Horizons, LLC, the renewable energy subsidiary of Hunt Consolidated, Inc., a multinational energy, real estate, and investment corporation controlled by the Ray L. Hunt family of Dallas. Previously, he held positions for 14 years in the U.S. government, as Deputy Secretary of Energy in the George W. Bush Administration from 2005-2008, as a Special Assistant to the President from 2003-2005, and in senior staff positions in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. 

Mr. Sell holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law and a BBA in Accounting from Texas Tech University.