Robert Martin Friedland is an international financier and businessman. Since the early 1980s, he has specialized in securing funding for the exploration and development of mineral and energy resources and advanced technology ventures. He is the founder and Chairman of his private, family-owned firm, Ivanhoe Capital Corporation, which is active in global capital markets and has an established focus on emerging markets.Friedland is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ivanhoe Mines — a Canadian public company listed on the New York, NASDAQ and Toronto exchanges. Robert Friedland's net worth is estimated at $2.8 billion by Forbes Magazine. [1]
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Born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on August 18, 1950, to immigrant parents Ilona and Albert Friedland, Robert is the eldest of three children. He graduated in 1974 from Reed College, Oregon, USA, with a political science degree. He holds dual US and Canadian citizenships and is also a resident of Singapore. He and his wife Darlene are parents to three children.
Friedland spent his early life running the All One Farm, a hippy commune in Oregon. Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, which characterizes Friedland as a cult leader, says:
(Jobs) said that that when Friedland was in trouble because of environmental damage caused by some of his mines, he had tried to contact Jobs to intervene with Bill Clinton, but Jobs had not responded. "Robert always portrayed himself as a spiritual person, but he crossed the line from being charismatic to being a con man."
Friedland operates Ivanhoe Capital from its corporate headquarters in Singapore – a location that has facilitated his predominant business focus on the Asia Pacific region during the past 20 years.
Friedland is Chief Executive Officer of Canada-based Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (IVN: TSX, NYSE & NASDAQ), which he founded in 1994 and led to a successful initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1996.[2] He served as Chairman, and later as Executive Chairman, until 2011. Exploration by Ivanhoe Mines since 2000 has discovered a chain of copper, gold and silver deposits at Oyu Tolgoi (Turquoise Hill) in Mongolia’s South Gobi region. The first phase of what is independently projected to be one of the world’s largest porphyry copper and gold mines is under construction at Oyu Tolgoi and is expected to begin commercial production in 2013.[3][4] Ivanhoe Mines also has substantial interests in SouthGobi Resources, Ivanhoe Australia and Altynalmas Gold.[5]
Friedland was chairman of Galactic Resources which operated Summitville mine, the site of the United States' worst cyanide release and mine bankruptcy and Superfund site. This mine closed in 1990 but continues to affect the region. It is estimated that at least $120 million will be required to clean up the bankrupt Galactic Resources mining site, which has damaged 17 miles of river. The former environmental manager of the facility has been indicted for intentionally dumping lead and cyanide directly into streams.[6]
Copper mines operated by Ivanhoe in Myanmar have recently come under scrutiny as environmental degradation, illicit company practices, as well as inside dealings with the ruling military junta have created ethical concerns.[7]
Friedland's other corporate leadership positions have included: