Gary Nagle: South African executive leading $90 billion London-listed giant, Glencore

From the streets of Johannesburg, the city long tied to South Africa’s mining history, Gary Nagle has built a career that now places him at the center of one of the world’s largest commodity groups. As chief executive officer of Glencore, the London-listed mining and commodity trading giant valued at about £66 billion ($90 billion), Nagle has become one of the most closely watched executives in the global resources industry, overseeing a company whose reach stretches from copper and coal to trading operations across several continents.

Born in Johannesburg in January 1975, Nagle’s rise reflects years spent inside the mining business rather than outside it. He studied commerce and accounting at the University of the Witwatersrand before qualifying as a chartered accountant in South Africa in 1999. A year later, at the age of 26, he joined Glencore’s coal business development team in Switzerland, beginning a career that would eventually span operations in South America, Australia, and South Africa.

From coal operations to CEO

Inside Glencore, Nagle steadily moved through some of the company’s most important businesses. In 2002, he played a role in seeding a portfolio of assets into Xstrata during its listing on the London Stock Exchange, a move that helped shape Glencore’s development into a diversified natural resources company. The transaction became one of the defining corporate moves tied to the group’s expansion in mining.

His assignments later took him to Colombia, where he served as chief executive officer of Prodeco from 2008 to 2013. The role placed him in charge of operations in one of Latin America’s major coal-producing regions at a time when commodity companies were expanding their global footprints. He later returned to South Africa to lead Glencore’s ferroalloys assets, remaining in that position until 2018.

Nagle reached the top of the company in 2021 when, at the age of 45, he succeeded South African billionaire Ivan Glasenberg as chief executive officer. The leadership transition drew attention across the mining sector because Glasenberg had spent years shaping Glencore into one of the dominant forces in commodities trading and mining. With the transition, Nagle became the top boss of a company operating at enormous scale and entered the role during a period when global demand for metals linked to energy and infrastructure was intensifying.

Under Gary Nagle, Glencore boosts global expansion

Under his leadership, Glencore has pushed deeper into copper, a metal tied to electric vehicles, power networks, and renewable energy systems. The company has become one of the mining industry’s most active buyers of copper assets and has outlined plans to nearly double copper output. In August 2025, Glencore said it would invest $13.5 billion in copper projects in Argentina, one of the company’s biggest recent commitments to the metal. Months later, in December 2025, the group acquired full ownership of Peru’s Quechua copper project.

The company has also expanded its footprint beyond South America. In Australia, Glencore secured $395 million in government support tied to operations at the Mount Isa copper smelter while continuing to broaden its energy and refining interests across Asia. Those investments reflect the company’s effort to strengthen its position in metals and energy markets at a time when competition for long-term supply assets has intensified.

Financially, Glencore recorded a sharp turnaround during the 2025 financial year. Profit after tax came in at $120 million compared with a loss of $2.7 billion in 2024. Total comprehensive income reached $1.04 billion after it reported a comprehensive loss of $2.67 billion a year earlier. Revenue increased from $231 billion to $241.5 billion during the period ended Dec. 31, 2025. The balance sheet also expanded. Total assets climbed from $130.46 billion to $142.2 billion. Total equity, however, declined to $33.6 billion as liabilities rose to $63.1 billion.

Glencore gains strengthen Nagle’s fortune

The results reinforced Glencore’s standing as one of the world’s largest commodity groups by revenue and asset base. Investors have also rewarded the company’s performance. Glencore’s share price has risen by 37 percent this year, pushing its market cap to £66 billion ($90 billion). The gains have increased the value of Nagle’s stake in the business. He owns 3,452,919 shares in Glencore worth £19.55 million ($26.57 million). During the year, he received total remuneration of $7.47 million, placing him among South Africa’s highest-paid executives.

Earlier this year, Nagle emerged at the center of one of the mining industry’s biggest proposed deals when Glencore held merger talks with Rio Tinto. The proposed merger, which did not move forward, would have created a mining giant valued at $260 billion, ranking among the largest transactions ever considered in the sector. Discussions gained pace on Jan. 9, 2026, more than a year after earlier talks between the two companies had broken down. A combined Glencore and Rio Tinto would have created a giant in copper and iron ore, two metals key to global infrastructure spending and growing investment in cleaner energy technologies.