 |
 |
Evolution not Revolution
July 30, 2010
The following is a message sent by Richard Elman to his colleagues at Noble Group.
"As all of the Noble family knows, as much as I travel, I have yet to find the fountain of youth. And, being a true blue "Noble Man", the first thing I would do if I ever did would be to try and tie down the marketing rights for the Group!
With the assumption that this elusive elixir will continue to elude me, I have been increasingly focused on ensuring that Noble is on a solid foundation for the next several decades. This passion is shared by our Vice-Chairman, and my long-time colleague and friend, Harry Banga.
We have good news to report. I am a quite sure that we have found the perfect mix to lead Noble well into this century. Bear with me. It will take some time to explain and it is important that this is properly understood by all of you.
Warren Buffett has Charlie Munger, Bill Gates has Steve Ballmer, and, as I have alluded to before, what is somewhat less known is I have Tobias Brown. Toby has played a key role in Noble that stretches back to our MBO (over 15 years ago). That MBO set the stage to create a pool of equity for Noble which allowed us to enfranchise a key group of managers who drove the company to what it is today. I am sure this great run is far from over.
With regard to Toby, there is literally rarely a day that goes by when Toby and I don't pick up the phone and exchange ideas, or discuss issues at Noble (even on weekends and spanning vacations and continents). Yet I can count the times on one hand we have visited each other's homes. We can fight like two dogs in an alley, but when the dust settles and the yelling stops, we are both better for it. We think the same way, pure and simple.
In addition to his guidance, Toby brought to the Noble mix his long-time associate and business partner Jamie O'Donnell. Jamie is a truly unique businessperson who has what can only be described as an almost frighteningly cool business judgment. Many times I have sat with Jamie during complex negotiations and have observed him tame the "opposition" with three simple questions. He is also a decent and kind person in every sense of the word (Toby and Jamie's approach to business is best described in Tony Tsoi's best selling book, "The Money Masters", for those who are interested, we have translated the chapter about them and put it on the Noble website).
Toby has done a number of things for the company starting as a Director, and then serving for many years as our non-executive Chairman. Several years ago, when the demands of their own business activities became too time consuming Jamie and Toby resigned from our Board with a great deal of grace. Toby is now back on the Board and, as part of his rejoining Noble, it was announced that should something happen to me, he would represent my interests in Noble.
Now to the exciting part. When I learned that Jamie and Toby were at a stage in their own careers where they had a choice to either recommit to various endeavors that would have kept them occupied until 2025 or do something new, I leapt at the chance. I had long planned that each of them would play a role in Noble's long-term future.
Hence, with the wise council of the Noble Board of Directors, we have put in place an extremely dynamic series of evolutionary steps. I have never felt better, or more sure, that these steps are the right ones to take. All of our key executives share my view.
Firstly, Toby will become Executive Chairman of the Noble Group and Jamie will join the Noble team as an Executive Vice President and also rejoin the main Board. Ricardo Leiman as CEO is an integral part of this mix and is equally excited about these steps. All other executive appointments will remain the same within Noble. However, I do anticipate that we will be bringing in more senior talent in the coming months to continue to build on the depth of our management. With regard to Jamie and Toby, their appointments will commence on September 1, 2010.
I will be as engaged as ever as Chairman Emeritus (prior to this exercise, I didn't know what "Emeritus" actually meant, but I now understand it is Latin for "works as hard, but is paid less"). I will be focused on strategic issues facing Noble and ensuring that the company retains its focus on shareholder value. This means that I will join the Audit Committee, join and Chair the Investments and Capital Markets Committee, join and Chair the Nomination Committee and, lastly, will join and Chair the Remuneration and Options Committee. In no way are these moves an implication that any of these Committees were not run with perfection in the past. I just wanted to make it extremely clear that, although the tiller is in very capable hands, I will know exactly the course being plotted and have a number of levers to ensure Noble is moving in the direction it should be.
As announced previously, Harry Banga will also be moving away from day-to-day executive responsibilities. This move has been further refined and Harry will stay on the Board to Chair a new Government Relations Committee for Noble and he will also review and approve any long-term commitments in the logistics arena. Harry has also agreed to continue to always provide wise counsel to the Group whenever called upon.
Lastly, I believe it is important that those who shoulder responsibility should suffer or prosper based on what they achieve. To this end and at no expense to Noble, nor its shareholders, I have entered into various personal agreements with Toby which ties his interests to my family shareholding in Noble. If Noble does well, he will do well and if he doesn't, as much as I call him a friend, I will lead the crowd looking for his head on a pike.
Remember, evolution, not revolution.
I really feel great.
Warm regards,"
Signed
Richard Elman
"As all of the Noble family knows, as much as I travel, I have yet to find the fountain of youth. And, being a true blue "Noble Man", the first thing I would do if I ever did would be to try and tie down the marketing rights for the Group!
With the assumption that this elusive elixir will continue to elude me, I have been increasingly focused on ensuring that Noble is on a solid foundation for the next several decades. This passion is shared by our Vice-Chairman, and my long-time colleague and friend, Harry Banga.
We have good news to report. I am a quite sure that we have found the perfect mix to lead Noble well into this century. Bear with me. It will take some time to explain and it is important that this is properly understood by all of you.
Warren Buffett has Charlie Munger, Bill Gates has Steve Ballmer, and, as I have alluded to before, what is somewhat less known is I have Tobias Brown. Toby has played a key role in Noble that stretches back to our MBO (over 15 years ago). That MBO set the stage to create a pool of equity for Noble which allowed us to enfranchise a key group of managers who drove the company to what it is today. I am sure this great run is far from over.
With regard to Toby, there is literally rarely a day that goes by when Toby and I don't pick up the phone and exchange ideas, or discuss issues at Noble (even on weekends and spanning vacations and continents). Yet I can count the times on one hand we have visited each other's homes. We can fight like two dogs in an alley, but when the dust settles and the yelling stops, we are both better for it. We think the same way, pure and simple.
In addition to his guidance, Toby brought to the Noble mix his long-time associate and business partner Jamie O'Donnell. Jamie is a truly unique businessperson who has what can only be described as an almost frighteningly cool business judgment. Many times I have sat with Jamie during complex negotiations and have observed him tame the "opposition" with three simple questions. He is also a decent and kind person in every sense of the word (Toby and Jamie's approach to business is best described in Tony Tsoi's best selling book, "The Money Masters", for those who are interested, we have translated the chapter about them and put it on the Noble website).
Toby has done a number of things for the company starting as a Director, and then serving for many years as our non-executive Chairman. Several years ago, when the demands of their own business activities became too time consuming Jamie and Toby resigned from our Board with a great deal of grace. Toby is now back on the Board and, as part of his rejoining Noble, it was announced that should something happen to me, he would represent my interests in Noble.
Now to the exciting part. When I learned that Jamie and Toby were at a stage in their own careers where they had a choice to either recommit to various endeavors that would have kept them occupied until 2025 or do something new, I leapt at the chance. I had long planned that each of them would play a role in Noble's long-term future.
Hence, with the wise council of the Noble Board of Directors, we have put in place an extremely dynamic series of evolutionary steps. I have never felt better, or more sure, that these steps are the right ones to take. All of our key executives share my view.
Firstly, Toby will become Executive Chairman of the Noble Group and Jamie will join the Noble team as an Executive Vice President and also rejoin the main Board. Ricardo Leiman as CEO is an integral part of this mix and is equally excited about these steps. All other executive appointments will remain the same within Noble. However, I do anticipate that we will be bringing in more senior talent in the coming months to continue to build on the depth of our management. With regard to Jamie and Toby, their appointments will commence on September 1, 2010.
I will be as engaged as ever as Chairman Emeritus (prior to this exercise, I didn't know what "Emeritus" actually meant, but I now understand it is Latin for "works as hard, but is paid less"). I will be focused on strategic issues facing Noble and ensuring that the company retains its focus on shareholder value. This means that I will join the Audit Committee, join and Chair the Investments and Capital Markets Committee, join and Chair the Nomination Committee and, lastly, will join and Chair the Remuneration and Options Committee. In no way are these moves an implication that any of these Committees were not run with perfection in the past. I just wanted to make it extremely clear that, although the tiller is in very capable hands, I will know exactly the course being plotted and have a number of levers to ensure Noble is moving in the direction it should be.
As announced previously, Harry Banga will also be moving away from day-to-day executive responsibilities. This move has been further refined and Harry will stay on the Board to Chair a new Government Relations Committee for Noble and he will also review and approve any long-term commitments in the logistics arena. Harry has also agreed to continue to always provide wise counsel to the Group whenever called upon.
Lastly, I believe it is important that those who shoulder responsibility should suffer or prosper based on what they achieve. To this end and at no expense to Noble, nor its shareholders, I have entered into various personal agreements with Toby which ties his interests to my family shareholding in Noble. If Noble does well, he will do well and if he doesn't, as much as I call him a friend, I will lead the crowd looking for his head on a pike.
Remember, evolution, not revolution.
I really feel great.
Warm regards,"
Signed
Richard Elman
|
