This South African native has lost nearly R50 billion in 2015

·30 Nov 2015

Ivan Glasenberg, chief executive of commodities giant Glencore, has seen his fortune plummet in 2015, according to new data published by Swiss magazine, Bilan.

The South African native, now a Swiss citizen, is still ranked among the richest people in the banking haven, but has seen his fortune cut by as much as 3.5 billion (R48.85 billion) francs over the past 12 months.

Glencore, the commodity trading and mining company headquartered in Baar, Switzerland, has seen its shares nosedive amid weak commodity prices.

According to Bilan, Glasenberg, who is a former South African race-walking champion, has seen his fortune dwindle to two billion francs (R28 billion).

According to Forbes, Glasenberg ‘s net worth as of 30 November 2015, stands at $1.73 billion (1.78 billion Swiss francs) or R25 billion.

The 58 year old obtained a bachelor of arts/science degree at the University of Witwatersrand, and joined Glencore in 1984, working in the coal department in South Africa and Australia.

In 2011 however, he became a Swiss citizen. In the same year, it was reported that, due to the economic climate, Glasenberg lost hundreds of millions of dollars as Glencore’s share price plummeted

In September 2011, using his own dividends, Glasenberg started buying a larger share of Glencore, buying up to an additional US$54 million of Glencore stock.

By mid 2012, Glasenberg reportedly held more than 15% of Glencore’s stock, with Forbes estimating his net worth at US$7.3 billion.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Glasenberg has lost more than 81% of his wealth since July 2014, when he was the 190th-richest person in the world with $7.3 billion.

Glencore’s share price is trading at less than a pound and is the worst performer in the UK’s FTSE 100 Index with a 68% drop this year, according to Bloomberg.

The company continues to battle shrinking profits, with concerns over its business model and a $30 billion debt load.