In a tragic, if very odd coincidence, a day after we postulated that the real "commodity-trader" risk may not be Glencore after all, but its just as vast, if even more levered competitor, Trafigura [8], moments ago the privately-held company (with publicly traded bonds), announced that its founder and biggest shareholder, french billionaire Claude Dauphin has died at the age of 64.
From the press release [9]:
It is with great sadness and regret we have to announce that Trafigura’s Founder and Executive Chairman, Claude Dauphin, passed away peacefully in the early hours of this morning in a hospital in Bogota, Colombia after a hard-fought battle with cancer.
Claude Dauphin (64) has been a leading figure in the global commodities trading industry for more than three decades. He founded Trafigura together with five partners in 1993, and as Chairman and CEO built the company into its current position as one of the world’s leading traders of oil, metals and minerals.
“Claude will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and vast network of business partners, as well as by us all,” said Jeremy Weir, CEO Trafigura. “We owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for a career full of achievement and entrepreneurial endeavour and for his energy, inspirational leadership, generosity of spirit, humility and humour.”
Our deepest condolences go to his wife and children.
His bio from the Trafigura website:
Claude Dauphin was a leading figure in the global commodities trading industry for more than three decades, leading Trafigura from its foundation in 1993 to its current status as one of the world’s largest independent traders of oil, metals and minerals. He was a man of formidable drive, with a vision for the role physical trade could play in boosting global economic growth and the energy and capacity for hard work to implement it.
Born in Houlgate, Normandy on 10th June 1951, Dauphin left school at the age of 16, initially to work in his family’s recycling business, Guy Dauphin Environment, based in Caen. A few years later he moved to Paris to work for a brokerage company specialised in trading non?ferrous metals.
In 1977 he joined the global commodities trading firm Marc Rich AG as Country Manager for Bolivia based in La Paz, and was subsequently promoted to Head of Lead and Zinc Trading. In 1988 he joined Marc Rich’s Executive Committee as Head of the Petroleum Division.
In June 1992 Dauphin resigned from Marc Rich and the following March founded Trafigura with five partners. To start with it was a small company, albeit with an experienced management team. It focused on niche business, principally in Latin America. It was a propitious time to start out as commodity prices were low and resource industries in the region were being privatised. The resulting new players needed logistical and marketing services which Trafigura was well positioned to provide.
The company’s breakthrough happened in the early 2000s with the advent of greater price volatility in commodities markets. This enabled Trafigura to broaden its focus in risk management and the balancing of global commodities supply and demand. The growth in commodities demand fuelled by rapid industrialisation in China and other emerging markets was a major driver of growth over the next 15 years.
Dauphin also pioneered from the early days Trafigura’s strategy of investing in fixed assets and infrastructure in support of trade. One of its earliest acquisitions in 1993 was a small metals warehousing company in Peru; a few years later Trafigura began investing in mid? and downstream oil assets under the name of Puma Energy.
These developments are cornerstones of what Trafigura has become today: one of the leading independent traders of oil, metals and minerals, with trading at its core and industrial and infrastructure investments to support its access to trade flows.
As Chairman and CEO, Dauphin drove growth throughout these years with entrepreneurial ambition, a hands?on management style, and fierce attention to detail. He commanded terrific loyalty from staff and created a uniquely collegial corporate culture, built around employee ownership.
In 2014, he was diagnosed with cancer and as well as embarking on a programme of treatment formalised a succession plan in which he became Executive Chairman and Jeremy Weir was appointed CEO. His capacity for hard work and energy were undiminished by his illness.
Dauphin is survived by his wife and three children.
And some more on the highly secretive Dauphin from the Telegraph [10]:
Little is known about Mr Dauphin, except that he was previously a senior trader for secretive commodities firm Marc Rich & Co, which later became Switzerland-based Glencore.
However, Mr Dauphin hit the headlines in 2006 when he was arrested with four colleagues and spent five months in jail in Ivory Coast on charges related to the toxic waste. He was later released and the authorities dropped all allegations of wrongdoing. In a statement, Mr Dauphin described it as “a terrible ordeal... [to spend] five months in jail as innocent men”.
The oil trader settled out of court over the toxic waste last September by giving 31,000 Ivory Coast residents £30m, without admitting any liability for the “slops” that ended up in their country in 2006.
Our condolences go to his friends and family, even as our eyes are following the impact of this news on Trafigura's bonds.
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