Richard Elman, chief executive of Noble Group, was yesterday named Business Person of the Year at the DHL/SCMP Hong Kong Business Awards. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the inception of the business awards.
Elman was credited with successfully steering and strengthening Noble Group during last year's worst global financial crisis in over eight decades. He attributed the strength of the group during the financial turmoil to a disciplined approach and a sound risk management team within the company.
'In life everything is risk but we have good people in risk management who are best in transaction execution,' he said.
Hong Kong-based but Singapore-listed Noble has over 100 offices in 40 countries serving more than 4,000 customers. Noble owns firms in Australia, Indonesia and Brazil that it uses to supply resource-hungry markets like the Middle East and the mainland.
At the time of its Singapore listing in 1997, Noble's market capitalisation was just under US$100 million but it has grown since then to US$8.5 billion.
Elman, who also won the International Award, said he was humbled by the recognition. However, he attributed the award to the employees of Noble Group and the stakeholders who, he said, have helped build the company into what it is today.
'Our team has done an excellent job and I feel proud to have seen so many of them mature into very honourable and successful leaders in business.'
