Yusuf Alireza
Chief Executive Officer in Hong Kong
Yusuf Alireza is the former Chief Executive Officer of Noble Group; a commodities trading powerhouse based in Hong-Kong. He took up the role in April 2012, after resigning from Goldman Sachs, where he had worked for 19 years. Yusuf’s career began with Goldman Sachs in 1992 after he graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service with a joint undergraduate and master’s degree.
Yusuf worked in Goldman Sachs’ New York office for 5 years before moving to the London branch in 1997. Whilst based in London, Yusuf was promoted to managing director, becoming the first Arab in the company’s history to become a partner. He moved to the company’s Asia branch in 2008, where he was promoted to President of Asia (excluding Japan) and a member of its Management Committee.
When Yusuf Alireza first started at Noble Group in 2012, the company was in a much worse condition than he had originally anticipated. In his new role as CEO, Yusuf was responsible for restructuring the business and ridding negative assets. Under his leadership, the company was able to raise funds from the sale of the agricultural unit, Noble Agri, to help reduce debt.
At the beginning of his tenure, Yusuf traveled to various locations across the world to meet with the company’s employees and managers to gain understanding of Noble Group’s strengths. He understood his role was to serve the company’s shareholders and to do that effectively meant understanding the business from the ground up. Yusuf viewed transparency and communication as the key to meaningful work and these theories were at the forefront of his plan to lead Noble to more success. Yusuf resigned from his position as CEO of Noble Group in May 2016.
Yusuf Alireza has been involved with a number of charities for many years, including Room to Read, Save the Children, Faith Foundation and a school for autistic children in Bahrain (where he grew up). He has a keen interest in children’s welfare and education. Yusuf also likes to travel and spend time with his family.