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This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.

Hello, I would like to request an edit to the page as it is quite out of date and could benefit from more information. For example the current version also says Mick Davis is a politician and former businessm, but he is no longer actively involved in politics whilst his business activities are significant. I have pasted some proposed revisions below.

It would be good to discuss these with an editor when convenient. Apologies if I have done this wrong or the formatting is not approproate, this is not something I have done before.

I look forward to hearing from someone.

Thanks

Mick Davis

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For the Scottish film director, see Mick Davis (director). For other people with similar names, see Michael Davis.

Sir Michael Lawrence Davis (born 15 February 1958) is an entrepreneur and businessman who has played a leading role in the development of the global mining industry.

He was Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Billiton plc prior to its merger with BHP in 2001 before becoming the chief executive (CEO) of Xstrata plc, an Anglo-Swiss multinational mining company, until its merger with Glencore in 2013. In 2020 he founded Vision Blue Resources[1], which invests in metal and mineral resource companies whose products are essential to the clean energy transition.

He was also the CEO and Treasurer of the British Conservative Party between 2016 and July 2019.

Early life and education[edit]

Mick Davis was born to a South African Jewish family on 15 February 1958[2]. He was educated at Theodor Herzl School, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He has a bachelor of commerce degree with Honours from Rhodes University and is a chartered accountant[3].

Career[edit]

Davis was a senior manager with the accountants Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co from 1980 to 1986[4]. Subsequently, Davis was Chief Financial Officer and an executive director of the South African state-owned Eskom, one of the world’s largest electricity utilities, before joining Gencor Ltd in 1994 as its Chief Financial Officer and executive director[5]. He also served as executive chairman of Ingwe Coal Corporation Ltd from 1995. After the listing of Gencor on the LSE in July 1997, and its renaming as Billiton Plc he continued to serve as CFO and Executive Chairman of Ingwe and was an executive director of Billiton plc[6].

He served as Chief Executive of Xstrata from 2001[7] until the company’s merger with Glencore in 2013. During his 12 years as CEO of Xstrata, Sir Mick Davis pursued a business strategy based on the thesis that industrialization in Asia, particularly in China, would result in structural increases in demand and price for key industrial commodities[8]. He oversaw approximately $35 billion of acquisitions[9], growing Xstrata from a regionalised company with assets in 7 countries and a market capitalization of approximately $500 million in 2001, to a global, diversified mining company with assets in 20 countries[10] and an approximate market capitalization of $54 billion in 2013 when it merged with Glencore[11].

He subsequently formed the mining venture, X2 Resources, with former colleagues including former Xstrata finance director Trevor Reid and executives Thras Moraitis, Andrew Latham, Ian Pearce and Benny Levene.[12]

Davis has also served as Chairman of Macsteel Group since 2016 and has served as a director on the board of Coronado Global Resources Inc. since 2020[13]. He also serves on the boards of Dangote Cement plc[14] and certain private companies with interests in technology, financial technology, and cybersecurity.

In 2020 Davis founded Vision Blue Resources, which is building a portfolio of strategic and high returning investments in clean energy related metal and mineral resource companies essential to the clean energy transition[15]. He has taken the role of Chairman at several of Vision Blue Resources investee companies, including, NextSource Materials[16], Ferro-Alloy Resources[17] and Sinova Global[18]. Davis is also the CEO of ESM Acquisition Corporation, a Special Purpose Acquisition Company launched on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021 seeking to benefit from the global transition towards a low carbon economy[19].

During his career, Davis has raised almost US$40 billion from global capital markets and completed over US$120 billion of corporate transactions[20]. Some of his successes include the creation of the Ingwe Coal Corporation in South Africa; the listing of Billiton on the London Stock Exchange;[21] the merger of BHP and Billiton into the largest diversified mining company in the world;[22] the initial public offering of Xstrata plc on the London Stock Exchange in 2002[23] and Xstrata's subsequent acquisitions of MIM Holdings[24] and Falconbridge Limited,[25] amongst others and most recently the successful merger of Xstrata and Glencore[26]. Early in 2015 he and his partners successfully closed the X2 Resources fund after raising almost US$6 billion from a combination of sovereign wealth, pension and private equity funds[27].

Politics[edit]

In 2013, David Cameron appointed Davis to Chair The Prime Minister’s Commission on the Holocaust to investigate whether further measures should be taken to ensure Britain has a permanent and fitting memorial to the Holocaust and educational resources for future generations[28]. Following a national call for evidence which received nearly 2,500 responses and included one of Britain’s largest ever gatherings of Holocaust survivors at Wembley Stadium, the Commission published its report in January 2015[29].

In 2016, Davis was appointed treasurer of the British Conservative Party [30]. In June 2017, he was also appointed CEO of the party[31]. Davis has also been a commentator on major British political and social issues, with articles published in outlets including The Times and The Daily Telegraph. In October 2017, commentator Iain Dale placed Davis at number 83 in 'The Top 100 Most Influential People on the Right'[32].

Davis subsequently resigned as CEO and Treasurer of the Conservative Party on 24 July 2019[33].

Personal life[edit]

His wife Barbara is a solicitor[34]. They live in London and have three children, Sarah, Ronit and Eitan[35].

Jewish leadership [edit]

Davis has held several influential leadership positions in the British Jewish community. Between 2006 and 2012 he served as a trustee and Chairman of the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA). Around that time, Davis was instrumental in the establishment of the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC). From 2011 to 2017 he served as the JLC’s Chairman[36]. A Jewish Chronicle list in 2014 rated Davis as the most powerful figure within the British Jewish community[37].

Davis has been a prolific writer and commentator on Jewish issues, regularly publishing opinion pieces in the British and Israeli press[38]. He has expressed critical views regarding Israeli governments led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu[39]. In 2020 he was among several British Jewish figures to protest Israel’s proposal to annex parts of the West Bank[40].

He has also served as a trustee of the Euro Chai South Africa Trust UK[41], the Jewish Museum UK[42], and the Portland Trust[43].

Philanthropic interests

Between 2009 and 2017 Davis was a trustee of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Foundation[44]. He also takes an active interest in foreign affairs, as a member of The Brookings Institution’s Foreign Advisory Council[45], the Chairman of the Royal United Services Institute’s Development Fund and a trustee of the Israeli think-tank, the Institute of National Security Studies[46]. The Davis Foundation, established by him and his wife, donates on a regular basis to, amongst other things, organisations and causes that support youth at risk, promote the performing arts, provide leading care for those with special needs and the aged, as well as education opportunities for the less well off[47].