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Chief financial officer Christophe Salmon and chief executive José María Larocca will leave Trafigura in the commodities trader's second leadership shake-up in seven months.
The departures follow a period of record performance for the privately held trading house, which posted profits of $7.4 billion in 2023 and agreed to a record $5.9 billion dividend for its 1,200 employee owners of the business.
Salmon, who joined Trafigura in 2012 and served as chief financial officer for almost 10 years, will leave his role in June and will be replaced by the company's chief financial officer for Asia, Stephan Jansma, the company said on Friday.
Larocca joined Trafigura in 1994, one year after it was founded, and is the longest-serving employee among current management. He was appointed to the leadership team as head of petroleum and petroleum products in 2007.
Last week, Trafigura pleaded guilty to U.S. Justice Department corruption charges related to paying bribes in Brazil to secure “improper advantages” in oil contracts between 2003 and 2014.
Trafigura said there was “no connection between the decision to retire by any of the senior executives and any legal issues, including the former parent company's recent resolution with the Department of Justice.”
Larocca, who at Trafigura also represented Argentina in show jumping at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, will leave the company at the end of September.
The changes continue a review of the group's leadership, which began in September 2023 when Trafigura restructured its management before the departure of former chief operating officer Mike Wainwright, who retired last month.
Following the 2015 death of Trafigura founder Claude Dauphin and CEO Jeremy Weir, Wainwright and Larocca ran the company as part of an 11-person management team, which was reduced to eight people in September.
Wainwright and Trafigura have since been accused by Switzerland's federal prosecutor of bribing foreign officials in Angola between 2009 and 2011. Trafigura said in December that Wainwright “rejects the charges against him” and that the company would “defend itself.” ” in the tribunals.
Incoming CFO Jansma joined Trafigura in 2013 as head of structure and trade finance, and previously held roles at Rabobank and Fortis Bank. He currently resides in Singapore.
