For a high school dropout, Richard Elman has done well for himself. Having failed his O-Levels at the age of 15, he did the pragmatic thing and decided to leave secondary school to start a career working at a scrap metal yard - a job his parents found for him. So began a 50-year career in the commodities business.
Good things can come from a seemingly bad situation. It was through working in a metal yard that Elman, who is now chief executive of the Noble Group and winner of this year's Business Person of the Year Award and International Award, discovered his aptitude, affinity and passion for commodities.
Although working in a blue-collar job clashed with the expectations of his father, a highly intellectual man, he did acknowledge his son's achievements, albeit later in life.
In the 1970s, Elman was a physical commodities trader at the trading house of Phibro before it was purchased by Salomon Brothers.
He was regional director of Phibro's Asian operations for a decade, including two years as a board director in New York. Despite the recession, he is the helmsman of a global supply chain encompassing countless agricultural, energy and industrial products that boasted revenues of US$36.1 billion last year.
Founded in 1986, with Elman's personal savings of US$100,000, Singapore-listed and Hong Kong-headquartered Noble has more than 100 offices in 40 nations serving more than 4,000 customers.