Bundaberg entrepreneur Lex Greensill was announced 2019 QUT Outstanding Alumnus of the Year at a celebration in Brisbane on Friday night.
The awards recognise successful graduates of the university who have displayed exceptional professional, academic or research achievements and contributions to the community.
Lex Greensill graduated from QUT with a Bachelor of Laws in 2002. He's a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales and the Supreme Court of Queensland.
He founded Greensill, which after just eight years, has become a world leader in working capital finance with more than $60 billion extended to more than eight million customers in 165 countries.
Lex gained intimate knowledge of the global supply network in his role as managing director and head of supply chain finance for Citibank in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He established Morgan Stanley’s global chain finance business.
This experience, together with his legal expertise in streamlining and simplifying legal processes in global finance and trade operations, and deep understanding of the importance of the supply chain to business gained from growing up on his family’s Bundaberg sugarcane farm, led to his establishing of Greensill to give companies greater access to working capital.
Headquartered in London, Greensill has offices in Sydney, Bundaberg, New York, Chicago, Miami, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Singapore and more, providing working capital and supply chain finance to fund everything from mobile phone handsets, to the purchase of passenger aircraft and hydro-electric power generation plants.
Greensill also owns Germany-based Greensill Bank which has billions of dollars in assets under management in a suite of supply chain finance funds managed by third parties. This financial stability and the company’s proprietary technology and expertise are the basis of Greensill’s clients’ success.
Bundaberg Region Mayor Jack Dempsey congratulated Lex on his award.
“It's fantastic to see someone from Bundaberg succeed on the world stage and be recognised for their efforts,” he said.
“It shows the Bundaberg Region is innovative and capable of achieving anything given our natural resources and the talent of our people.”
Lex Greensill is a renowned venture capitalist who has backed several successful start-ups. His financial acumen and reputation has attracted global attention.
He was appointed Crown Representative for finance and advised British Prime Minister David Cameron’s government on the creation of a new UK supply chain finance scheme.
Former US president Barack Obama invited him to provide expert opinion on the potential relevance of supply chain finance for the US market, at a time when traditional banking system and regulatory capital constraints were hindering the provision of funding.
Lex was appointed a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the British economy in recognition of his pioneering approach to financial services and his efforts to unlock capital for global clients to put to work.
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