Glencore Appoints CEO Glasenberg’s Nephew to Run Oil Assets

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Ivan Glasenberg appointed his nephew as head of oil assets at Glencore Plc, the latest changing of the guard in the senior ranks of the world’s largest commodity trader.

Colin Glasenberg, who joined Glencore’s energy business in 2011, is now part of senior management and oversees oil fields in Chad and Equatorial Guinea.

The appointment reflects a change in the management structure of the oil division. In June, Glencore announced it would split the role of department chief in two, and name separate executives to run trading and assets. In the past, the head of oil was in charge of both. Alex Sanna oversees Glencore’s oil trading business.

Glencore hasn’t made a public statement on the promotion, but did update the corporate website in October or November to add Colin Glasenberg’s name under executives running industrial assets, according to older versions of the website captured by the nonprofit Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

In another personnel change, Mike Westerman was named acting head of copper assets. The role was previously held by Mike Ciricillo.

A spokesman for Glencore declined to comment.

New Generation

The promotions come as Glencore goes through a wider generational shift. In the past two years, several top lieutenants and billionaire shareholders such as former head of oil Alex Beard and copper chief Telis Mistakidis have retired and a new class of executives has been promoted to take their place.

The company is also under pressure from legal challenges, as it faces corruption and bribery investigations in the U.S., Brazil and U.K.

Ivan Glasenberg, Glencore’s second-biggest shareholder with a 9.1% stake, has hinted that he may step down in the next year. The leading candidates for the CEO job are Gary Nagle, Kenny Ives and Nico Paraskevas, Bloomberg reported last year.

Colin Glasenberg reports to Peter Freyberg, Glencore’s head of industrial assets. His background bears some similarity to his uncle. Both have an MBA from the University of Southern California and have previously worked as accountants. Before joining Glencore and Morgan Stanley, the younger Glasenberg worked for three years at PricewaterhouseCoopers in South Africa as an accountant.

Although Glencore is a giant in oil trading, its industrial assets in energy are small. The commodity trader is seeking a buyer for its oilfields in Chad.