Mining, commodities and chartering giant Glencore is looking to the future after long-serving chief executive Ivan Glasenberg said he was resigning.
The billionaire boss, 63, will retire in the first half of 2021.
The bulker and tanker charterer said he is being replaced by Gary Nagle, 45, who will relocate from Australia to Switzerland early next year to work with Glasenberg on the transition.
The move marks a step away from the management team that oversaw the group's London initial public offering in 2011.
Nagle is head of the group's coal assets.
Seamless transition
Chairman Tony Hayward said: "The board has worked with Ivan over the past two years to oversee a seamless transition to the next generation of leadership across Glencore's business.
"The fact that each department has promoted from within the group is a credit to the work done to ensure there is strength in depth."
The new CEO has been on the board’s radar for several years and was selected following a succession process overseen by the board, the company said.
Glasenberg understood the importance of creating a long-term asset base, chairman Tony Hayward explained.
The IPO in 2011 provided the catalyst to re-unite Glencore with Xstrata, the mining business that Glencore had founded and financed.
"I have known Ivan for over 15 years, working closely with him as a director for the last nine years. What he has achieved is unique. His vision created two of the world’s largest mining companies – Glencore and Xstrata," Hayward added.
Value over volume
"Underpinning all this is Ivan’s simple mantra of value over volume," he said.
Glencore said the change came at a key time, with the company having a big opportunity to contribute to the post-Covid-19 economic recovery by providing commodities essential to the transition to a lower-emissions economy.
Glasenberg said: "Today, our diversified portfolio uniquely positions us to play an essential role in the global transition to a low-carbon economy."
He added he had worked with Nagle since he joined Glencore 20 years ago.
Mining background
Nagle added: "I am grateful for the trust placed in me by the board and honoured to be appointed CEO at such an exciting time for Glencore. We will continue to deliver value to our shareholders, while operating safely and responsibly."
The new boss was heavily involved in seeding a portfolio of assets to Xstrata in 2002, in conjunction with its own London IPO.
Glencore was formed by billionaire Marc Rich, known as the "King of Commodities", who died in 2013.
The trader was controversially pardoned in 2001 by then US president Bill Clinton just hours before leaving office.
He had fled the US to Switzerland in 1983 after being indicted on a raft of charges including tax evasion, racketeering and flouting an embargo on Iranian oil.
