Ariella Kuper
Full Name: Ariella Kuper
Position: MD and cofounder of Clear Asset, which was launched in September 2012
Main Activity of the Company: Online auctions of primarily mining equipment
Date and Place of birth: June 15, 1973, Johannesburg
Education: BA (Joint Honours) Economics and Economic History, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), 1992 to 1994; MBA, University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, 2002, with additional scholarship to Columbia Business School, New York
First Job: As a Wits student, I worked part-time for fine art auction house Stephan Welz & Co in association with Sotheby’s UK. After graduating, my first full-time job was as a junior international steel trader with Macsteel International – my thesis was on ‘Beneficiating iron-ore prior to export from South Africa’
Size of First Pay Packet: After graduating from Wits, R6 000 cost to company, with six months to prove myself and then re-evaluation
Value of Assets under Your Control: R100-million in gross sales in the first financial year
Number of People under Your Leadership: A specialised, focused team of 15
Management Style: Very hands-on, engaging and informal, but I do require tight, structured follow-through and work-flow management from my team
Personal Best Achievement: Being MBA class president and learning to speak several international languages in extremely short timeframes
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: The CEO at the time at Macsteel International – he saw a rough diamond with potential and allowed me to have a foot in the door
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Hilary Clinton, as I believe she exudes conviction, combined with real-time experience. It is her ability to take hard decisions that I find compelling
Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Eric Samson, of Macsteel, for his humility and business acumen
Philosophy of Life: Act with a sense of urgency (a tagline I stole from African Barrick Gold) and the paranoid survive
Biggest Ever Opportunity: Going to work in South America for Macsteel International
Biggest Ever Disappointment: Perhaps declining a job offer with Glencore in Switzerland, aged 27
Hope for the Future: For Clear Asset to grow into an internationally respected business seen as a benchmark in the industry through the market intelligence and value it provides for buyers and sellers
Favourite Reading: Edward Rutherfurd
Favourite TV programme: I’m not much of a TV watcher but I do enjoy anything to do with World War II and history
Favourite Food/Drink: A good Chardonnay or Shiraz
Favourite Music: Ballads and opera
Favourite Sport: Swimming
Hobbies: Antiques and art collecting; conducting charity auctions
Car: Convertible
Pets: A bonsai tree that fares rather poorly, given how much I travel
Miscellaneous Dislikes: Uptight people – life is too short to take yourself too seriously! . . . and ineptitude
Married: To Alex Groeneweg, who comes from Holland
Children: Three stepchildren
Clubs: I sit on the NEC board of ORT SA, a nonprofit organisation focused on education and mathematics training for disadvantaged schools
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation