A. Gary Klesch

Klesch was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1947 and educated by Jesuits. He graduated from John Carroll University in 1968 with a B.A. in Political Science.[4]

After finishing his studies, Klesch's first job was at Paine Webber in Cleveland, as a margin clerk. He was tasked with sorting slips of paper in the back office and earned less than $10,000 a year.[5]

In 1969, aged 22, Klesch joined McDonald & Company,[6] then one of the largest regional investment banking firms, based in Cleveland, Ohio, as an associate. In his interview with founder Bertram McDonald, Klesch was told that if he worked hard, he would be a Partner in fifteen to twenty years' time.[7] After leaving the interview, his immediate reaction was, "No way, no way I'm going to wait that long" and plunged into his job in the syndicate department.[7] Two years later, aged 24, Klesch was made McDonald & Company's youngest-ever Partner.[8]

Klesch then came to the attention of Bill Simon, who had just been appointed Secretary of the Treasury under President Gerald Ford, and in 1975, aged 28, he was appointed Director of Capital Markets Policy.[4] In this role he contributed to the development of a new model of financial regulation and in effect became Washington's man in charge of Wall Street. Klesch's responsibilities included developing the legislation that set in motion the deregulation of the securities and financial services industries in the United States and which ultimately resulted in Wall Street's "Big Bang". During this time, he also travelled to Europe, Japan and the Middle East to talk about capital markets and deregulation.[7] Whilst at the Treasury Department, Klesch also served as the Ford Administration's representative in negotiations leading to US Government loans and guarantees to various financially troubled entities, including Lockheed and New York City. He also served as the US Government's representative on the Board of the United States Railway Association, where he played a significant role in the negotiation and reorganization of troubled railroad companies, most notably the Penn Central Corporation,[7] which collapsed in the early 1970s and was then the world's largest insolvency. Additionally, he was responsible for finding private finance for the space shuttle.[9]

In 1978, after two and half years in Washington, Klesch took a sabbatical and then joined the management of Smith Barney Harris Upham & International Smith Barney Harris Upham & Company, Inc. | Better Business Bureau Profile, the Wall Street securities house, in Paris. He was given the role of Director responsible for Middle East development.

In 1980, he was appointed President of the brokerage firm Dean Witter Reynolds Overseas Ltd.[10] in London, where he was responsible for all of the firms' international activities. Under his presidency, the firm grew from 10 employees to over 200 and steadily rose up the Eurobond league tables. In 1982, Klesch won the Eurobond's[11] best syndicate manager award. Setting up Dean Witter Overseas had given Klesch the confidence he needed, and two years after joining, Klesch decided to leave to create his own investment company.[12]

• 1993: acquisition of DAF, Dutch truck manufacturer
• 1996: acquisition of TC Farries, Scottish bookseller
• 1998: acquisition of Knickerbox, a British lingerie chain, and of Myrys, a French shoemaker[9]
• 2009: acquisition of Delfzijl steelworks in Netherlands and of Heide refinery in Germany (from Shell)
• July 2012: acquisition of Kem One, vinyls activities of the French Arkema Group
• February 2013: acquisition of Groupe Leali,[16] an Italian steel producer
• January 2022: acquisition of Kalundborg Refinery and its terminal located in Hedehusene in Denmark (from Equinor)

Unions and European local politicians fear the worst from Gary Klesch, as shown by the example of unions at Alcoa's,[17] Sardinian steel factory, whose employees protested against a possible takeover by Klesh & Company Limited. This is due to its reputation as a "vulture capitalist"[18] conveyed in the press and the closing of several acquisitions made by Gary Klesch for which the businessman pledged to boost the activity, as the example of Kem One[19] company.

In 2012, Klesch & Co bought the vinyl business division of Arkema for one symbolic euro, which he later renamed "Kem One S.A." Klesch claimed that the raw materials industry is subject to a bright future and said that the group Klesch & Co had the expertise to improve the efficiency of industrial processes and trade with amenities.[20] In the transaction, Arkema[21] took charge of its 587 million loss from the pole and offered a treasury of 100 million euros to help stimulate activity. 8 months later, the company was declared insolvent, threatening more than 1,300 jobs. French unions[22] suspect him to have placed Arkema money in its financial holdings registered in Jersey, Malta or Bermuda.