Now for the demise of the billionaires…

GLENCORE’s initial public offering (IPO) minted six billionaires in 2011, when Ivan Glasenberg and five other executives together controlled stakes worth $24 billion (R309.41bn).

Today, only three would remain in that elite club – based on the value of their holdings in the company – and two of those are on the brink of losing their status after the shares of the leading commodity trader lost 70 percent since the flotation.

The May 2011 offering generated more wealth than the IPOs of some of Wall Street’s most prominent firms, including Goldman Sachs in 1999.

Since then, Glencore’s share price has fallen every year, a decline that has accelerated in recent months as concern China’s economy is slowing has seen commodity prices dive.

Glencore dropped 9.7 percent in London to close at a record low of 158.95p (R32.10) on Wednesday after the company reported a plunge in first-half profit. The shares, which rose 1.4 percent in early trading in London yesterday, are down nearly 46 percent this year.

Glencore chief executive Glasenberg remains an undisputed billionaire, but the value of his take has dropped from $9.4bn in May 2011 to $2.8bn now, according to estimates.

Among his colleagues, the stakes controlled by Tor Peterson, the head of coal, and Alex Beard, the head of oil, are each worth less than $1bn today.

Gary Fegel, the former head of aluminum who left Glencore in 2013, was a billionaire at the time of the IPO based on his stake.

Fegel had sold all his Glencore shares since he left and was not any longer financially engaged with the trading house, he said in response to a query.

Forbes Magazine put his wealth at $1.2bn early this year. If he had continued to hold his stake in Glencore, it would be worth $385 million today.

Daniel Mate, the head of zinc, and Telis Mistakidis, the head of copper, are just above the billionaire line, with stakes valued at $1.04bn and $1.03bn, respectively, down from about $3.6bn four years ago.

If the shares drop another 5 percent, they will become multimillionaires.

Glasenberg and some of his executives have bought more shares over the years, re-investing their dividends.

Glencore declined to comment. – Bloomberg