Shares in Glencore reached an all-time low on Monday, leaving the former £6bn fortune of boss Ivan Glasenberg worth less than £1bn. It is the latest crisis in the turbulent 41-year history of the company.
1974: Commodity trader Marc Rich creates Marc Rich & Co AG focusing on trading ferrous and non-ferrous metals and minerals, plus crude oil.
1983: Rich is indicted on charges described by the then US attorney for New York, Rudolph Giuliani, as “the biggest tax evasion case in United States history”. He is also charged with buying millions of barrels of oil from Iran during the 1979-81 hostage crisis flouting a ban on “trading with the enemy”. The tycoon flees to Switzerland and remains on the FBI’s most-wanted list for almost two decades.
1990: The firm acquires a stake in the miner Xstrata (then Sudelektra AG).
1993: A disastrous attempt to corner the world zinc market leads to Rich being forced by colleagues to give up his majority stake. After a management buyout, Marc Rich & Co is renamed Glencore.
2001: Bill Clinton controversially pardons Rich during the final hours of his presidency.
2002: Glasenberg, who accepted his first role with the company in 1983, is appointed chief executive.
2011: Glencore floats at 530p a share. It aims to use its shares to make acquisitions.
2012: Glencore and Xstrata agree an all-share merger. Xstrata investors resist and demand better terms. Glasenberg calls in Tony Blair to facilitate a deal with Xstrata’s leading shareholder, Qatar Holding.
2013: Xstrata merger goes through.
2014: An informal merger approach to larger rival Rio Tinto is rebuffed.
2015, August: Glencore shares close down just under 10% at 159p after tumbling prices for coal and metals linked to slowing Chinese demand hit first-half profits.
2015, August: Glasenberg tells shareholders that the company does not need to refinance and blames the share price slump on “short-term” hedge funds which did not “understand” his business.
2015, September: After insisting that the group did not need refinancing, Glasenberg gives in to shareholder pressure in September, announcing a programme to cut the group’s $30bn (£19.7bn) debts to around $20bn by selling new shares, selling assets and closing mines.
2015, September: Glencore raises $2.5bn by placing just over 1.3bn new shares with new and existing shareholders.
2015, September: Glencore shares continue to decline, hitting a record low, valuing Glasenberg’s former £6bn fortune at less than £1bn.
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