London– Raj Kumar Bagri, the longest serving chairman in the history of the London Metal Exchange (LME), died here on Wednesday. He was 86 years old.
Born in 1930 in Calcutta, Bagri started working at the age of 15 as a filing clerk for a metals firm in the city and went on to set up London-based Metdist Trading, which became one of the first two overseas members of the LME in 1970.
He became the first non-Briton to be Chairman of the exchange in 1993.
Bagri, who was a member of Britain’s House of Lords, also created the Bagri Foundation, a UK registered charity in 1990.
He is survived by his wife Usha, a son Apurv, who took over as CEO of Metdist in 1991, and a daughter Amita.
Bagri’s fascination with the world of metals are perhaps best evidenced through his own words. When regaining consciousness after a protracted period this month, his first question to his son Apurv was: “What’s the price of copper?”
