Trafigura founder Claude Dauphin dies after cancer fight

Claude Dauphin, one of the most prominent commodities traders of his generation and founder of the Switzerland-based Trafigura, has died at the age of 64. The French citizen died in Bogotá, Colombia, after a two-year battle with cancer, the company said.

“We owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for a career full of achievement and entrepreneurial endeavour and for his energy, inspirational leadership, generosity of spirit, humility and humour,” said Jeremy Weir, Trafigura’s chief executive.

Along with its rivals Glencore, Mercuria and Gunvor, Trafigura rode the decade-long boom in commodity demand from China and other emerging markets, becoming one of the largest-privately owned traders of oil and metal.

The hard-driving Dauphin was instrumental in the company’s growth, criss-crossing the globe to negotiate deals and striking up relationships with fellow executives and heads of state.

The private company always remained closely held and Dauphin had a reputation for loyalty to employees who showed the same to him. Trafigura reported a net profit of $1bn last year and handed almost $900m of it back to staff.

Dauphin was one of a number of prominent commodities traders who honed their skills under Marc Rich, the godfather of modern commodities trading who for almost two decades was one of the US government’s most wanted fugitives.

Born in Houlgate, Normandy, on June 10 1951, Dauphin joined Rich’s firm in 1977 as country manager for Bolivia based in La Paz. He was later promoted to head of lead and zinc trading. In 1988, he became head of the petroleum division where he worked with Ivan Glasenberg, now chief executive of Glencore.

He founded Trafigura in 1993 after he and five partners left Rich, the company that would later became Glencore.

“He was a respected competitor,” Mr Glasenberg said in a statement. “Our thoughts and condolences are with his family and friends.”

Trafigura started off with a focus on Latin America, buying a small metals warehouse company in Peru in 1993. It later expanded into mid and downstream oil assets, as well as logistical infrastructure across the globe.

The biggest challenge of Dauphin’s career came in 2006 when a local contractor hired by Trafigura dumped waste at dozens of sites around the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan. Ivory Coast officials estimated at the time that 15 deaths were linked to the dumping — something Trafigura has always denied — and tens of thousands sought medical treatment for nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and breathing difficulties.

That year the notoriously publicity shy Dauphin travelled to Ivory Coast to try to resolve the crisis. He and two other employees were seized by authorities and put in prison for five months.

He continued to run Trafigura from jail using a mobile phone.

In 2007 Trafigura agreed to pay $200m to the government of Ivory Coast in relation to the spill but did not accept any liability. Dauphin was released without charge.

Known for his sharp tongue and exacting standards, Dauphin throughout his career insisted male Trafigura employees wear a suit and tie to the office. Brown shoes were banned.

Despite stepping back from day-to-day running of the business 18 months ago to undergo medical treatment, Dauphin was still intimately involved in the business and seen by many as still leading the company.

Famously hardworking, Dauphin was in Colombia on business, Trafigura said.

He is survived by his wife and three children.