Glencore IPO creates money for management and banks

The FTSE 100 will welcome the world's largest commodities firm (by revenue: 2010, $145bn) to its ranks, around May 24, 2011, on its first day of unconditional trading.

Glencore did its primary listing in London, selling 1.14 billion shares @ 530p, and secondary listing in Hong Kong, at 66.53 HKD (around 530p as well). Shares rose 11p to 541p in the first day of trading. At the 530 offer, Glencore has a market value of £36.7 billion.

Ivan Glassenberg, CEO since 2002, studied accountancy at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa and got his MBA from University of Southern California, and will have a paper fortune of around £6bn following the flotation, being the owner of 15% of the company. Glencore was founded by Marc Rich (real name Marcell Reich) who started his career at Phibro (then known as Philipp Brothers, a firm founded in 1901) and is credited in a book as having created the spot market for crude oil.