IVAN Glasenberg intends to retire from Glencore in three to five years, said Bloomberg News which cited people familiar with internal discussions in the company.
According to the report, Glasenberg’s successor would be drawn from “the young guard” within the company, but an analyst told Bloomberg News there was no obvious replacement. “There’s no obvious name outside the old guard,” said Ben Davis, an analyst at Liberum Capital Markets. “The next rank down are totally invisible to us.”
“I can see a Glencore without Ivan, but I don’t expect that within a four-year time frame,” Davis told Bloomberg News. Glasenberg, who turns 62 in January, anticipates retiring between the ages of 65 and 67, said the newswire.
He would not sell his shares once retired. He’s the company’s second-largest shareholder with a 8.6% stake that’s worth $5bn, said Bloomberg.
Speculation of succession comes at a delicate time for Glencore which is facing a US Department of Justice inquiry regarding some of its trading activities. Bloomberg said that the probe has put one of Glasenberg’s stalwart colleagues, Telis Mistakidis, the head of copper trading, under pressure.
