Sir Mick Davis

Sir Mick Davis is a trustee of the Portland Trust.  He is the co-founding partner of X2 Resources LLP, an emerging entity in the resources sector.

He stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of Xstrata plc in 2013, one of the world’s largest global diversified Mining and Metals Company’s which he grew in a 10-year period from a market value of US$500 million to US$60 billion, employing more than 90,000 people and operating in over 22 countries.  Previously, Mick was an Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of Billiton plc and Chairman of Billiton Coal.  Prior to joining Billiton, Mick was an Executive Director of South African state-owned Eskom, one of the world’s largest electricity utilities.

In a personal capacity, Mick is Chairman of the Holocaust Memorial Commission of the United Kingdom.  Mick is also a member of the Brookings International Advisory Council and a trustee of the Institute of National Security Studies. Until mid 2017, Mick was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Leadership Council of the United Kingdom, the umbrella body of the largest Jewish Charities and Institutions in the United Kingdom responsible for the strategic imperatives of UK Jewry, and a trustee of the Kew Foundation, which supports the work of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Prior to settling in the UK, Mick played an active role in Jewish communal affairs in South Africa. 

Mick is a Chartered Accountant by profession and an alumnus of Theodor Herzl School in Port Elizabeth. He holds an honours degree in Commerce from Rhodes University, South Africa.  He holds an Honorary Doctorate from Bar Ilan University. In the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honour’s List, Mick was made a Knight’s Bachelor.