Ivan Glasenberg

Ivan Glasenberg grew up in South Africa and Australia, studying commerce at the University of Witwatersrand and earning his MBA from USC Marshall School of Business. He joined Marc Rich + Co in 1984 as a coal trader and rapidly rose through the organisation. After Glencore's management buyout from Marc Rich in 1994, Glasenberg became one of its key partners. He was named CEO of Glencore in 2002 and orchestrated its transformation from a private commodity trading house into a publicly listed diversified mining and trading conglomerate. The 2011 Glencore IPO on the London Stock Exchange raised £37.4 billion — the largest IPO in LSE history at the time — valuing the company at approximately £36 billion. Post-IPO, Glasenberg aggressively pursued acquisitions: the $29 billion merger with Xstrata in 2013 (after a contentious shareholder fight) transformed Glencore into one of the world's largest diversified mining companies. Glencore's business spans coal, copper, zinc, nickel, agricultural products, and oil, combining physical commodity trading with ownership of mines and processing facilities globally. Glasenberg stepped down as CEO in 2021. He was one of the richest executives in the mining and commodities industry, with his Glencore stake worth billions.