Marc Rich

Marc Rich was born in Belgium to German-Jewish parents who emigrated to the United States when he was a child. He worked at Phibro Corporation's commodities division before co-founding what became Marc Rich + Co. in Zug, Switzerland in 1974. Rich was a revolutionary figure in commodity markets: he invented the concept of spot oil trading — buying and selling physical crude oil at spot prices rather than through long-term contracts with oil companies — when the OPEC embargo created dislocated oil markets in the 1970s. This innovation created the modern spot oil market and transformed commodity trading from a relationship-based business to a pure trading activity. By the 1980s Rich's company was the world's largest commodity trading house, handling millions of barrels of oil daily and significant volumes of metals, grains, and other commodities. In 1983 the US Department of Justice indicted Rich for tax evasion and illegal oil trading with Iran during the hostage crisis. Rich fled to Switzerland and was placed on the FBI's most wanted list. He remained in exile for 17 years, running his business from Zug, while his ex-wife Denise Rich donated to Democratic Party causes. President Clinton controversially pardoned Rich on his last day in office in January 2001. Rich's company became Glencore, now one of the world's largest trading and mining companies. He passed away in June 2013.