Perhaps the most notorious commodities trader of the last century was Marc Rich. After beginning his career in the mailroom at Philipp Brothers in the 1950s, he climbed the ranks at what was then the world's leading raw materials merchant company. In the 1970s, Mr. Rich left the firm after a bonus dispute.
After tax evasion and trading with the enemy charges in the US forced him to leave for Switzerland in the 1980s, his company grew and dominated many commodity businesses. While Philipp Brothers disappeared as the raw materials trading business changes, Marc Rich