Noble Group was Asia's biggest commodity trader — then an accounting scandal erased it

Noble Group was founded in 1986 by Richard Samuel Elman as a commodity trader in Hong Kong. Over three decades, it grew to become Asia's largest commodity trader by revenue, trading coal, oil, LNG, metals, and agricultural products. At its peak in 2016, Noble reported US$46 billion in annual revenue, was listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, and employed thousands across Asia.

In February 2015, Iceberg Research — an anonymous short-seller — published a report accusing Noble of accounting fraud. The report alleged that Noble had classified hundreds of millions of dollars in losses as assets by inflating the mark-to-market value of long-term contracts, particularly in its coal and energy trading businesses. Noble denied the allegations, calling them 'baseless and defamatory', but the damage was done.

Noble's share price collapsed 99% over the following two years. Moody's cut its rating to junk in December 2015. The company recorded a net loss of US$1.7 billion for 2015. In 2017, CEO Yusuf Alireza was terminated and later sued founder Richard Elman for compensation. By 2018, Noble was delisted from the Singapore Stock Exchange, declared a default, and forced into a US$3.5 billion debt restructuring. The original Noble Group Ltd was wound up, and a new unlisted entity emerged smaller.

The restructured Noble Group never recovered. The Singapore authorities blocked its relisting attempts due to financial uncertainty. In 2024, Vitol — the world's largest independent commodity trader — agreed to acquire Noble Resources Trading Limited, completing the deal by 1 January 2025. Noble Group, once Asia's most powerful commodity trader with US$46 billion in revenue, became a footnote in the history of the industry.