Alexander David "Lex" Greensill (born 29 December 1976) is an Australian former businessman best known for being the founder of Greensill Capital, a company focused on supply chain finance and derivative financial products that on 8 March 2021 filed for insolvency protection and faced legal scrutiny.

Biography

Greensill was born in

Bundaberg Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...

, a city in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, in 1976, to parents who owned a sugarcane and melon farm. Before becoming a banker, he was a sugarcane farmer and was expected to enter his family's farming business. This began to change when he arrived in Britain in 2001. After four years he joined the American bank

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...

, and then

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...

. He founded Greensill Capital in November 2011, which was based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Early in his career, he served as a senior advisor to the British Prime Minister,

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

, with an office based in

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

. He also claimed he was adviser to Barack Obama, after introduction by David Cameron.

Demise of Greensill Capital

In the early months of 2021 Greensill Capital was on the verge of bankruptcy. Several criminal complaints were filed against the German subsidiary of Greensill Capital. The subsidiary, ''Greensill Bank AG'', in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

was closed by Germany's financial regulatory authority on 3 March 2021. It has been reported in several media outlets that over half of Greensill's business came from bundling and reselling accounts receivable of

Sanjeev Gupta Sanjeev Gupta is an Indian-born British businessman, and the founder of Liberty House Group. He is the CEO and chairman of GFG Alliance, an international conglomerate that operates primarily in the steel and mining industries, its major subsid ...

's steel business, and that this is the cause of the company's insolvency problems.

Awards

At the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours were awarded a ...

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, he was made a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

) by

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

, for services to business.

Wealth

Greensill was a billionaire and owned several private jets. He also frequently networked with the top echelons of the British establishment, including people like the former UK prime minister

and Neil Garrod, the chief treasurer of

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

. Due to the legal scrutiny and financial difficulty faced by Greensill's firm in early 2021, Greensill is no longer a billionaire. Stemming from the collapse of the firm, he faces several lawsuits. Greensill and his family sold several million dollars worth of shares in the company in 2019, more than two years before it collapsed. Despite having made the ''Financial Review'' 2020 Rich List, Greensill did not reach the threshold for inclusion on the 2021 Rich List.

References

External links

*
Greensill Bank AG Bremen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greensill, Lex Australian businesspeople Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 1976 births People from Bundaberg Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom Living people