Alexander David "Lex" Greensill (born 29 December 1976) is an Australian businessman best known for being the founder of

Greensill Capital Greensill Capital was a financial services company based in the United Kingdom and Australia. It focused on the provision of supply chain financing and related services. The company was founded in 2011 by Lex Greensill. It filed for insolvency ...

, 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 a city in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia, and is the tenth largest city in the state. Bundaberg's regional area has a population of 70,921, and is a major centre of the Wide Bay–Burnett geographical region. The Bun ...

, a city in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, in 1976, to Jewish 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 management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...

, and then

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

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

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

, with an office based in

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along wi ...

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 (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

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 (born September 1971) 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 indu ...

'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 are 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 are awarded as pa ...

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

, he was made a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

) 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. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

, 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, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

. 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