lse glen sehk 0805 jse gln from 13 november 2013 industry commodities metals and mining founded 1974 ; 42 years ago 1974 as marc rich co ag founder marc rich headquarters baar switzerland headquarters london united kingdom head office oil & gas rotterdam netherlands head office agricultural products saint helier jersey registered office area served worldwide key people tony hayward chairman ivan glasenberg ceo products metals and minerals energy products agricultural products revenue us 170.497 billion 2015 1 operating income us 8.016 billion 2015 1 net income us 8.114 billion 2015 1 number of employees 110 378 2016 2 website www.glencore.com glencore plc an acronym for global energy commodity resources is an anglo swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company with headquarters in baar switzerland and a registered office in saint helier jersey . the current company was created through a merger of glencore with xstrata on 2 may 2013 . 3 as of 2015 update it ranked tenth in the fortune global 500 list of the world s largest companies . 4 it is the world s third largest family business . 5 as glencore international the company was already one of the world s leading integrated producers and marketers of commodities . it was the largest company in switzerland and the world s largest commodities trading company with a 2010 global market share of 60 % in internationally tradable zinc 50 % in internationally tradable copper 9 percent in the internationally tradable grain market and 3 percent in the internationally tradable oil market . 6 7 8 glencore had a number of production facilities all around the world and supplied metals minerals crude oil oil products coal natural gas and agricultural products to international customers in the automotive power generation steel production and food processing industries . 7 the company was formed in 1994 by a management buyout of marc rich co ag itself founded in 1974 . 7 it was listed on the london stock exchange in may 2011 and was a constituent of the ftse 100 index . 9 10 it has a secondary listing on the hong kong stock exchange . 11 glencore s shares started trading on the johannesburg stock exchange in november 2013 . 12 contents 1 history 1.1 2015 1.2 glencore dan gertler and the democratic republic of congo 1.3 associations with other mining companies 1.4 initial public offering 1.5 relationship with xstrata 1.6 financial and accounting manipulations 1.7 dealings with rogue states 1.8 investments in colombia 1.9 investments in ecuador 1.10 investments in zambia 1.11 investments in the democratic republic of the congo 1.12 women on the board 1.13 western sahara 2 operations 3 board of directors 4 references 5 further reading 6 external links history edit an australian public radio report said glencore s history reads like a spy novel . 13 the company was founded as marc rich & co. ag in 1974 by billionaire commodity trader marc rich . rich was charged in the us with tax evasion and illegal business dealings with iran but pardoned by president bill clinton in 2001 . 14 he was never brought before us courts so there was never a verdict on these charges . in 1993 commodity trading and marketing company trafigura was split off from marc rich s group of companies . 15 as physical commodities traders like trafigura glencore s main rivals in 2011 were identified as vitol and cargill 16 amongst others . 17 in 1993 and 1994 after failing to take control of the zinc market and losing 172 million glencore s founder marc rich was forced 14 16 to sell his 51 percent majority share in his own company marc rich & company ag to glencore international the commodities trading and industrial company . 18 2015 edit due to weak global prices for the assets glencore owned particularly coal and copper producers and for the commodities in which glencore traded the company showed a net operating loss of 676 million for the first half of 2015 . as of september 2015 the value of its stock had fallen significantly . 19 concerns financial analysts cited to explain the falling stock price included a weak global commodity market and glencore s high level of debt 20 30 billion . the company was reducing debt by selling off stock and assets . 19 glencore dan gertler and the democratic republic of congo edit in 2005 proceeds from an oil sale to glencore were seized as fraudulent gains as part of an investigation into corruption in the democratic republic of congo allen mills 17 june 2008 . 21 in the course of the congo events nikanor was merged into katanga in late 2007 in a transaction valued at us 3.3 billion . 22 in 2011 reuters called glencore as the biggest company you never heard of and described how glencore and dan gertler partnered in nikanor from 2007 until it merged with katanga mining . reuters called the nikanor acquisition an example of glencore s opportunistic contrarian well funded investment approach focusing on equity participation controlling interest and working upstream from trading relationships . 16 23 the acquisition was the culmination of 18 months of deal making in congo ... including fighting off a counterbid by former england cricketer phil edmonds ... . starting i n june 2007 glencore and partner dan gertler an israeli mining magnate paid gb 300 million for a quarter stake in mining company nikanor which was seeking to revive derelict copper mines next to katanga mining s properties . that deal gave glencore exclusive rights to sell all nikanor s output an offtake agreement ... . then on christmas eve 2008 ... having lost 97 percent of its market value over the previous six months ... in the depths of the global financial crisis and ... running out of cash katanga accepted a deal for about us 500 million in a convertible loan and rights issue . katanga agreed to issue more than a billion new shares and hand what would become 74 % to glencore . ... by early 2011 with copper prices regularly setting records above us 10 000 a ton katanga s stock market value had reached nearly us 3.2 billion ... . after a us 108 million loss in 2009 after acquisition it posted a 2010 annual profit of us 265 million . in may 2011 the company launched an ipo valuing the business at us 61 billion 24 and creating five new billionaires . 25 trading was limited to institutional investors for the first week and private investors weren t allowed to buy shares until 24 may 2011 . 26 in early 2011 reuters reports included speculation from liberum s rawlinson that after an initial public offering ipo glencore could develop an interest in london kazakh based eurasian natural resources corporation . 16 glencore said that contrary to recent reports it was not interested in bidding for the under fire group . 27 associations with other mining companies edit along with several other major coal producers glencore is also a large shareholder in globalcoal the online physical coal trading platform . during the shareholder formation of globalcoal glencore offered to sell all their coal through the platform if the other producers would do the same . this notion was rejected . citation needed the board of globalcoal also contains a number of power utility shareholders . relationships also exist with century aluminum co. cenx ; 44 % economic ownership interest 28 in the us ; glencore partial subsidiary minara resources ltd au mre a 70.5 % stake in one of australia s top three nickel producers 28 ; 29 and 8.8 % in united company rusal hk 486 the russian aluminium giant that went public in 2010 . 28 in mid 2011 century was called one of the most harrowing stocks of the past few years but identified as a risky but potentially profitable investment for the future . 30 initial public offering edit when the commodities group glencore international made its initial public offering ipo in may 2011 in a dual listing in london and hong kong valued at about us60 billion it was obliged by regulations who to provide a prospectus . the 1 637 page document revealed invaluable information about this private company that has remained discreet for thirty seven years . with the ipo glasenberg who shares would fall from 18.1 % before the ipo percent to 15.8 % after the offering . daniel mate and telis mistakidis zinc copper and lead co directors would fall from 6.9 percent to 6 percent . glencore the mining to trading giant went public to raise gross proceeds of around 10 billion . according to reuters glencore is known for its opportunistic but lucrative acquisition strategy . 31 in may 2011 united arab emirates state owned aabar investments confirmed an investment of 850 million in glencore international plc as a cornerstone investor with an intention to invest an additional 150 million in the global offer . the investment made aabar the largest cornerstone investor in the initial public offering ipo and the largest new shareholder of glencore after its ipo giving aabar a 1.4 % stake . the two firms intend to explore areas of co operation . 32 33 in november 2012 abu dhabi s aabar investments a unit of abu dhabi s state owned united arab emirates international petroleum investment company wrote off more than 392 million of its 1 billion investment into glencore s ipo less than two years after investing it . aabar investments was the largest new shareholder in glencore . 34 relationship with xstrata edit prior to its merger with xstrata glencore is reported to have served as a marketing partner for the company . 35 36 as of 2006 glencore leaders willy strothotte de and ivan glasenberg were on the board of xstrata which strothotte chaired . according to the sunday times glencore controlled 40 % of xstrata stock when and appointed xstrata ceo mick davis . 35 37 in july 2012 xstrata plc announced that the court meeting clarification needed originally scheduled for 12 july 2012 to approve the details of the merger between xstrata and glencore had been adjourned to 7 september 2012 . 38 glencore raised the offer to us 82 billion . 39 after the merger with glencore xstrata cfo trevor reid announced that he would no longer work as employee but would become a consultant . after 11 years of involvement this marked a massive shift in the company s strategy and xstrata was entering a post reid era . 40 in february 2012 glencore international plc agreed to buy xstrata plc for gb 39.1 billion us 62 billion in shares . glencore offered 2.8 new shares for each xstrata share in agreed all share merger of equal . it is the biggest mining takeover ever and after approval would create an entity with 2012 sales of us 209 billion . 41 in june 2012 glencore and xstrata began to reconsider the proposed retention package for their merger following shareholder opposition to a huge payout for executives . in total 73 key executives stood to receive over gbp 170 million under the initial retention package . 38 in october 2012 bbc news reported that glencore had more ships than the british royal navy . glencore s operations in 40 countries handled 3 % of the world s oil consumption . xstrata s operations in more than 20 countries employed 70 000 people . according to mining analyst john meyer if the two companies merged into glencore xstrata they would be the 4th largest commodities trader in the world . 42 just before completing its forced april 2013 takeover of mining rival xstrata as it awaited chinese regulatory approval for its long planned merger the world s largest diversified commodities trader the annual income of glencore fell 25 % percent as its trading division offset the impact