Robert Martin Friedland (August 18, 1950) is an American-Canadian international financier and major player in the junior mining industry. 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 the founder of Ivanhoe Mines — a Canadian public company listed on the New York, NASDAQ and Toronto exchanges.
Early life and education
Robert Friedland was born in Chicago, Illinois, the eldest of three children born to immigrant parents Ilona (née Muller) and Albert Friedland. Friedland’s father survived three years in Auschwitz while his mother worked as a forced laborer during the Holocaust. He was expelled from Bowdoin College in 1970 after being arrested by federal authorities for the possession of an estimated $100,000 worth of LSD, a crime for which he served two years in federal prison. He graduated in 1974 from Reed College, Oregon, USA, with a political science degree. His senior year at Reed, Friedland was student body president. During his time at Reed he met Steve Jobs the co-founder of Apple, with whom he shared an interest in Eastern spirituality. At the time, Friedland served as the caretaker of an apple farm south of Portland that was owned by his millionaire uncle Marcel Muller and Jobs would come on the weekends and help with the apple orchard, which served as the inspiration for the name of his company, Apple Inc. Friedland turned the orchard into a commune called All One Farm.
Career
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 was 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. 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. Ivanhoe Mines also has substantial interests in SouthGobi Resources, Ivanhoe Australia and Altynalmas Gold.
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.
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.
As of March 2013, Robert Friedland has an estimated net worth of $1.8 billion that he earned as an international financier and major player in the junior mining industry. According to Forbes.com, he is #831 in the World Billionaires List (#546 in 2012), #279 in the United States, and #347 in the Forbes 400 List. Born Robert Martin Friedland on August 18, 1950 in Chicago, Illinois, he was expelled from Bowden College in 1970. Federal authorities arrested him for the possession of an estimated $100,000 worth of LSD. He served two years in federal prison. In 1974, he graduated with a degree in political science from Reed College in Oregon.
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