(Bloomberg) -- Trafigura Group is preparing for a leadership handover to gas, power and renewables head Richard Holtum as its new chief executive officer, replacing Jeremy Weir who will stay on as chairman of the commodity trading giant.
Holtum, 39, a former British army captain who joined Trafigura in 2014, has been holding meetings with the heads of different commodities and their teams at Trafigura to discuss their trading books with them as he prepares to step into the role, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information.
He will become the third CEO in Trafigura’s 31-year history, after Weir took over in 2014 from founder Claude Dauphin, who remained chairman until his death the following year. The company is planning to make an announcement as soon as next week, the Financial Times reported earlier.
The change comes at a time of wider flux for Trafigura, which is owned by about 1,400 of its top employees and vies with Vitol Group and Glencore Plc for the title of the world’s biggest commodity trader.
The company has announced a series of changes in its top ranks in the past two years, including a major reshuffle and the departure of several of its most senior executives — including Mike Wainwright and Jose Larocca, the two men who alongside Weir formed the top leadership trio since Dauphin’s death.
Holtum was little known outside of Trafigura and his immediate markets when Bloomberg reported in April that he was in pole position to be the next CEO as Weir was planning to seek a successor.
Holtum joined Trafigura after a short stint on the crude oil desk at Glencore and became global head of LNG and gas in 2019. Like other traders, the firm earned enormous profits from trading LNG, gas and power during the energy crisis of 2022.
He steps into his new role as Trafigura and former Chief Operating Officer Wainwright prepare to go on trial in December on corruption charges in Switzerland. The case will shine a renewed light on allegations of wrongdoing that have stained the commodity trading industry in recent years, and comes after Trafigura pleaded guilty to separate corruption charges in the US in March. Wainwright has denied the Swiss charges, while Trafigura has said it will defend itself in court.
The company and its rivals are also adjusting to a pullback in earnings as the industry emerges from the most profitable period in its history, with the chaotic markets that traders thrive on returning to more normal levels over the past year — particularly in oil, power and gas.
In its metals business, Trafigura is still working through the fallout after revealing that it fell victim to a massive alleged nickel fraud.
A spokesperson for Trafigura declined to comment.
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