Goldcorp: A Golden Effort Of Founder Rob McEwen
Rarely you come across a person as enigmatic as Rob McEwen. The founder of Goldcorp Inc and still it's largest non-institutional shareholder (1.5%), Rob McEwen is a person who likes talking straight into your face. It is the fruit of long and endearing efforts of Mr. Rob McEwen that Goldcorp has attained such stature today. The faith and money of the investors world over lay in the form investment in company's shares.
It all began in 1969 when McEwen graduated from St. Andrew's College. He then went on to complete a degree of B.A from University of Western Ontario, Canada. Later he decided to do an MBA from Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto. McEwen decided to enter the mining industry in 1990. Since then neither McEwen nor Goldcorp has seen back.
He began the transformation of Goldcorp in 1993 and faced many stiff challenges in his quest to make Goldcorp a global powerhouse in gold mining. He grew the company from $50 million to $13 billion entity during his tenure. One of the toughest challenges to conquer in any manager's life is strike. In Rob McEwen's career also he had to face a strike, but in his case it was a bit different from the usual strikes. This strike happened because he was trying to convert the shattered Red Lake Gold mine in to an operational gold mine. The strike lasted 46 months and he even faced life threat but nothing could stop this blazing entrepreneur. He not only got the mine to restart production but rather turned it into a gem of an asset for Goldcorp.
Rob McEwen is one of the most prominent yet controversial figures in the gold mining industry. His decisions have been very bold and he has never backed out from following his gut feeling. Gold mining industry is one sector where you can bet to have the least innovations possible. However, this founder of Goldcorp proved the odds/old notion wrong here and even won the prestigious award for the most innovative CEO by Canadian Business Magazine that had few expert judges on the panel. Mining is an expensive and labor-intensive business but McEwen proved by his strategy that he could not only cut down the cost of production but also keep the growth chart of the company in the positive directions.
Today Goldcorp is the third largest gold producer in the world and largest in Canada. It is also the lowest cost gold producer in the world and the one with the fastest growth rate. The company has illustrious projects like Eleonore Mining and Red Lake Gold Mines. The Goldcorp has been on a buying spree for two years and it stopped when it took over the Glamis Gold Company, one that has earlier bid to buy Goldcorp. The merger resulted into creation of third largest gold mining company in the world.
Truly, Mr. Rob McEwen not only created a company with a bright future but created a safe investment option for the investors. He has created enough wealth for the investors and stakeholders of Goldcorp.