Stephen Greer
General Information
Mr. Stephen Greer was born June 1968 in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, the heart of the American steel industry. Greer graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelors of Economics in the spring of 1991, before accepting his first job as a financial analyst in Germany (TEN).
Greer, now 41, currently resides in Hong Kong with his wife Mei and his three children where he works as a senior advisor for Oaktree Capital. The following is a brief account of how his ambition and opportunity garnered success in his business enterprise and life.
Hong Kong- February 1993
At the age of 24, Stephen Greer left his first job as a financial analyst for MacDermid, Inc. in Germany and headed for a continent brimming with economic potential; the bustling metropolis of Hong Kong. With more ideas in his head than dollars to his name, Stephen knew little of where his career was headed, but with him he carried the tools that would ultimately shape his future: a penchant for entrepreneurialism and a baccalaureate from Penn State.
Stephen set up camp on a friend's couch and spent his first week surveying the streets of Hong Kong, gaining perspective of the city in which he would eventually build his business. Unemployed yet undeterred, Stephen found his own apartment and dove headlong into his new environment, using all social opportunities to network and explore myriad business ventures. Stephen became President of Hartwell Pacific three months later.
Stephen Greer had incorporated his first trading business without even knowing what goods he was going to exchange. Using his apartment as an office, he spent the next few months establishing Hartwell Pacific by finding customers and identifying profitable trade goods. Many unsuccessful attempts later, Stephen found his niche in the scrap metal trade. By June of 1994 Hartwell Pacific turned its first profit on a deal that sent 40 tons of stainless steel scrap from China to England. This first, albeit short-lived, contract provided valuable experience for Stephen and his new business partner and future wife, Yong Mei, and paved the way for their expansion into magnesium, aluminum and other metals. By the age of 26 he was negotiating scrap metal prices with industrial manufacturers across Southeast Asia, the United States and the Middle East. Through grit, cunning and his keen business acumen, the young Stephen Greer was able to establish Hartwell Pacific as a major league scrap metal trading company in its first few years of existence.
Company Profile
Stephen Greer founded Hartwell Pacific, a company headquartered in Hong Kong focusing on scrap metal trading in China and North Asia, in 1993. In 1997 Hartwell Pacific broadened its scope by investing in the collection and processing of scrap metal. It opened recycling yards in Hong Kong, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Johor Bahru, and Mexico ("Federation of Hong Kong Business"). Hartwell Pacific operated as its own firm until 2000 when Rothschild Investment Fund purchased a portion of the company through its venture capital program (Boao Forum).
In July of 2003, Australian-based Smorgon Steel Group purchased a 50% share of Hartwell Pacific resulting in a joint venture company under the moniker Smorgon Hartwell Recycling. The Smorgon Steel group was a publically traded company on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) at the time and one of the country's top three steel manufacturers (Boao Forum). The remaining half of Hartwell Pacific was sold to Smorgon Steel Group in March of 2005, at which time Smorgon Hartwell Recycling became a subsidiary of Smorgon Steel. As of 2005, the annual turnover for this firm reached $150 million dollars.
After Hartwell Pacific
In 2005, full ownership of Greer's company, Hartwell Pacific, was turned over to Smorgon Steel Company. Despite the change of hands, Greer was appointed CEO for Asia of Smorgon Hartwell Recycling and given the opportunity to serve on Smorgon Steel's regional recycling strategy board. In 2007, steel manufacturer, Onesteel, bought the newly formed Smorgon Steel Group. Greer continued to serve as the CEO of Asia for another year but resigned shortly after he fulfilled the terms of acquisition set by Smorgon Steel in 2005. Currently, Greer serves as a senior advisor to Oaktree Capital, a distressed debt and equity firm, which helps companies that have filed for bankruptcy or will file in the near future. He has also recently published a book entitled Starting from Scrap, chronicling his adventures in entrepreneurship that led to the success of Hartwell Pacific (Acquisition of Smorgon Hartwell Recycling JV) and (Yale Club of Beijing).
Awards
2001: DHL/South China Morning Post- Hong Kong Young Entrepreneur Award
References:
TEN. Web. 07 Apr. 2010. <http://www.ten.org.hk/events-detail.php?id=17>.
Greer, Stephen. Starting from Scrap: An Entrepreneurial Success Story. Burford Books. March 2010.
"Federation of Hong Kong Business Associations Worldwide." The Federation of Hong Kong Business Associations Worldwide. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. <http://www.hkfederation.org.hk/forum/forum2003/speakers/stephen.htm>.
Boao Forum for Asia. "Greer, Stephen Hartwell." Web. 28 Mar. 2010. <http://www.boaoforum.org/CPF/News_ShowContent-en.asp?Seq=2005000623>.
"Acquisition of Smorgon Hartwell Recycling JV." AZoM™ - The A to Z of Materials and AZojomo - The "AZo Journal of Materials Online" Web. 07 Apr. 2010. <http://www.azom.com/news.asp?newsID=2818>.
"Yale Club of Beijing - Event Details." Welcome Page. Web. 07 Apr. 2010. <http://www.yaleclubbeijing.org/mc/community/eventdetails.do?eventId=259587&orgId=ycb&recurringId=0>.
Mr. Stephen Greer was born June 1968 in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, the heart of the American steel industry. Greer graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelors of Economics in the spring of 1991, before accepting his first job as a financial analyst in Germany (TEN).
Greer, now 41, currently resides in Hong Kong with his wife Mei and his three children where he works as a senior advisor for Oaktree Capital. The following is a brief account of how his ambition and opportunity garnered success in his business enterprise and life.
Hong Kong- February 1993
At the age of 24, Stephen Greer left his first job as a financial analyst for MacDermid, Inc. in Germany and headed for a continent brimming with economic potential; the bustling metropolis of Hong Kong. With more ideas in his head than dollars to his name, Stephen knew little of where his career was headed, but with him he carried the tools that would ultimately shape his future: a penchant for entrepreneurialism and a baccalaureate from Penn State.
Stephen set up camp on a friend's couch and spent his first week surveying the streets of Hong Kong, gaining perspective of the city in which he would eventually build his business. Unemployed yet undeterred, Stephen found his own apartment and dove headlong into his new environment, using all social opportunities to network and explore myriad business ventures. Stephen became President of Hartwell Pacific three months later.
Stephen Greer had incorporated his first trading business without even knowing what goods he was going to exchange. Using his apartment as an office, he spent the next few months establishing Hartwell Pacific by finding customers and identifying profitable trade goods. Many unsuccessful attempts later, Stephen found his niche in the scrap metal trade. By June of 1994 Hartwell Pacific turned its first profit on a deal that sent 40 tons of stainless steel scrap from China to England. This first, albeit short-lived, contract provided valuable experience for Stephen and his new business partner and future wife, Yong Mei, and paved the way for their expansion into magnesium, aluminum and other metals. By the age of 26 he was negotiating scrap metal prices with industrial manufacturers across Southeast Asia, the United States and the Middle East. Through grit, cunning and his keen business acumen, the young Stephen Greer was able to establish Hartwell Pacific as a major league scrap metal trading company in its first few years of existence.
Company Profile
Stephen Greer founded Hartwell Pacific, a company headquartered in Hong Kong focusing on scrap metal trading in China and North Asia, in 1993. In 1997 Hartwell Pacific broadened its scope by investing in the collection and processing of scrap metal. It opened recycling yards in Hong Kong, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Johor Bahru, and Mexico ("Federation of Hong Kong Business"). Hartwell Pacific operated as its own firm until 2000 when Rothschild Investment Fund purchased a portion of the company through its venture capital program (Boao Forum).
In July of 2003, Australian-based Smorgon Steel Group purchased a 50% share of Hartwell Pacific resulting in a joint venture company under the moniker Smorgon Hartwell Recycling. The Smorgon Steel group was a publically traded company on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) at the time and one of the country's top three steel manufacturers (Boao Forum). The remaining half of Hartwell Pacific was sold to Smorgon Steel Group in March of 2005, at which time Smorgon Hartwell Recycling became a subsidiary of Smorgon Steel. As of 2005, the annual turnover for this firm reached $150 million dollars.
After Hartwell Pacific
In 2005, full ownership of Greer's company, Hartwell Pacific, was turned over to Smorgon Steel Company. Despite the change of hands, Greer was appointed CEO for Asia of Smorgon Hartwell Recycling and given the opportunity to serve on Smorgon Steel's regional recycling strategy board. In 2007, steel manufacturer, Onesteel, bought the newly formed Smorgon Steel Group. Greer continued to serve as the CEO of Asia for another year but resigned shortly after he fulfilled the terms of acquisition set by Smorgon Steel in 2005. Currently, Greer serves as a senior advisor to Oaktree Capital, a distressed debt and equity firm, which helps companies that have filed for bankruptcy or will file in the near future. He has also recently published a book entitled Starting from Scrap, chronicling his adventures in entrepreneurship that led to the success of Hartwell Pacific (Acquisition of Smorgon Hartwell Recycling JV) and (Yale Club of Beijing).
Awards
2001: DHL/South China Morning Post- Hong Kong Young Entrepreneur Award
References:
TEN. Web. 07 Apr. 2010. <http://www.ten.org.hk/events-detail.php?id=17>.
Greer, Stephen. Starting from Scrap: An Entrepreneurial Success Story. Burford Books. March 2010.
"Federation of Hong Kong Business Associations Worldwide." The Federation of Hong Kong Business Associations Worldwide. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. <http://www.hkfederation.org.hk/forum/forum2003/speakers/stephen.htm>.
Boao Forum for Asia. "Greer, Stephen Hartwell." Web. 28 Mar. 2010. <http://www.boaoforum.org/CPF/News_ShowContent-en.asp?Seq=2005000623>.
"Acquisition of Smorgon Hartwell Recycling JV." AZoM™ - The A to Z of Materials and AZojomo - The "AZo Journal of Materials Online" Web. 07 Apr. 2010. <http://www.azom.com/news.asp?newsID=2818>.
"Yale Club of Beijing - Event Details." Welcome Page. Web. 07 Apr. 2010. <http://www.yaleclubbeijing.org/mc/community/eventdetails.do?eventId=259587&orgId=ycb&recurringId=0>.
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