Yusuf Abdulla Yusuf Akbar Alireza (born August 1970, Bahrain)[1] is the chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of ARP Global Capital, a fund based in Dubai. In addition to his time spent at Goldman Sachs where he was a partner and co-head of the Asia-Pacific region, he also served as CEO of Noble Group, the Hong Kong energy conglomerate, and a Fortune Global 500 company, before resigning in May 2016.[2][3][4][5]
Yusuf Alireza | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 1970 |
| Nationality | Bahrain |
| Education | International Economics from Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service |
Education
editYusuf Alireza received a joint master's and bachelor's degree from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He completed his bachelor's studies in International Economics, pursuing a master's degree in International Relations and affairs.[6]
Career
editAlireza spent 20 years at Goldman Sachs, ultimately becoming co-president of Asia operations, excluding Japan, and a member of the firm's global management committee.[1] He began working at Goldman Sachs New York in 1992, in the Fixed Income Industry Research Group, before transferring to the firm's London office in 1997 and becoming the Head of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) sales and structuring efforts.
He was made a partner in 2004, and relocated to Hong Kong in 2008, where he managed the Asia Pacific securities division of Goldman Sachs.[7]
Alireza was made co-head of the Asia-Pacific region in January 2011, ex Japan. He spent 11 months in the position before resigning in November 2011.[4]
Alireza became CEO of Noble Group in April 2012,[8] succeeding Ricardo Leiman as the head of the Hong Kong-based global supply chain manager of energy and agricultural products. Alireza transitioned the company to an asset-light model and sold the firm's Noble Agri business to the Chinese company Cofco Corp in 2014.[9][10] Alireza resigned in May 2016 after Noble's share price fell by 76%.[2][3]
In 2015, an anonymous research blog, Iceberg Research, started to question the accounting practices of Noble Group.[11] Though the author was initially not confirmed, Alireza published an open letter identifying Arnaud Vagner, a former Noble credit analyst[12] who had been fired in 2013, allegedly for poor performance.[13] In 2018 Vagner confirmed that he was the blog’s author.[14] The blog claimed that the company booked profits on long term contracts.[15] Noble hired PricewaterhouseCoopers, who announced that the accounting methods complied with international accounting rules, though they also advised that the trader needed to improve their governance and methodology.[15] A probe was launched into Noble Group's accounting in Singapore three years later in November 2018, two years after Alireza's departure, and Noble is suing Vagner.[16][11] Noble defaulted on its debt in October 2018[17] and had to restructure its debt.[18]
Alireza also sits on various boards, including Bahrain's Economic Development Board,[19] the National Bank of Bahrain,[20] the Bahrain Ship Repairing and Engineering Company,[21] Room to Read,[22] and the Georgetown Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.[23]
References
edit- ^ a b Lee, Yoolim (November 15, 2012). "Richard Elman, head of commodities giant Noble, turns his attention to U.S." Washingtonpost. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
- ^ a b "Ex-Noble Group's CEO Alireza Sues Founder Elman for $58 Million". Bloomberg.com. 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2017-10-21.
- ^ a b Wells, Peter (30 May 2016). "Noble Group CEO resigns, announces Americas Energy Solutions sale". Financial Times. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
- ^ a b "Goldman Asia-Pac co-head Yusuf Alireza to retire". Reuters. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ "Room to Read Appoints Yusuf Alireza as Board of Directors Chair". www.businesswire.com. 2022-03-17. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
- ^ "Noble Group chief executive Yusuf Alireza resigns". poandpo.com. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
- ^ Investing (2011-03-21). "Goldman Sachs continues principal investing: analyst | Financial Post". Financial Post. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
- ^ Gopalan, Nisha; Tudor, Alison (2011-11-14). "Commodity Firm Eyes a CEO". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
- ^ "Noble Group Says CEO Alireza Resigns; Plans U.S. Asset Sale". bloomberg.com. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ Kent, Sarah (2015-12-23). "Noble Group to Sell Remaining Stake in Noble Agri to Cofco for $750 Million". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
- ^ a b Millard, Rachel (2018-11-11). "Spectacular fall of the House of Noble". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
- ^ "Noble Group denies repos use, slams Iceberg as not credible". The Edge Markets. 2015-06-17. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
- ^ Hughes, Jennifer; Hume, Neil; Sheppard, David (17 June 2015). "Noble Group chief hits back at critics". Financial Times. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
- ^ Blas, Javier; Hoffman, Andy (15 August 2018). "The Man Who Triggered a $10 Billion Commodity Collapse Finally Speaks". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
- ^ a b Farchy, Jack; Chia, Krystal (20 Dec 2018). "How a Last-Minute Raid Derailed Noble Group's Story of Rebirth". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
- ^ Palma, Stefania; Hume, Neil; Sheppard, David (20 November 2018). "Singapore authorities launch probe into Noble Group". Financial Times. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
- ^ "Noble Group's 2020 noteholders notified of default". IG. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
- ^ "I-was-cheated-tales-from-the-collapse-of-a-commodity-giant". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
- ^ "Board of directors". Invest in Bahrain. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
- ^ "Board of directors - National Bank of Bahrain". www.nbbonline.com. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
- ^ "Directors". BASREC. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
- ^ "Leadership & Board". www.roomtoread.org. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
- ^ "Board of Advisors Archives". SFS CCAS. Retrieved 2019-07-04.