Jean-Pierre Valentini is a French businessman with over 27 years of experience in oil trading. He worked for major companies like ELF and Trafigura, developing their African markets. At Trafigura, he rose to become director of trading for Africa. He has since become an independent international commodity consultant. Valentini has also invested in various start-ups in fields like mining, luxury watches, and real estate. He is considered an accomplished businessman with a vast intellectual curiosity and interest in art and culture.

1. THE BLACK LEGEND OF JEAN-PIERRE
VALENTINI
Jean-Pierre Valentini wasbornonFebruary5,1964inCorte,the historical andcultural capital oftheisland
of beauty located 80 km from Ajaccio.
A studiousanddiligentstudent,he alreadydemonstratedarare intellectual acuity. Afterabrilliantschool
career in France, he turned to international trade management.
In 1988,he chose the United Statestoundertake the highestinternational level trainingin thisfield,an
MBA in Finance and Management, at the prestigious and world-renowned University of Hartford. The
school originallyfoundedin1877 became anindependenthigher educationuniversityin1957,bringing
together an art school, a music school and a business school.
Aspartof hisMBA,Jean-Pierre Valentini tookhisfirststepsinthe energysectorduringaninternshipwith
the Elf group based in Houston, Texas. He confirmed his interest in this area by very quicklybecoming
head of trading for the same group.
Jean-Pierre Valentini and ELF
A historiccompanyinthe extractionand distributionof oil,the Elf company wasbornfromthe desire of
the general distributionunion(UGD) andthe general oil tankersunion(UGP) tobringtogetherunderthe
same banner several salescompanies. of oil. The French petroleum productscompany with the Caltex
brand, originally a subsidiary of Texaco and California Oil, is one of them.
In 1990, Jean-Pierre Valentini temporarily returned to France to work at the Donges refinery in Loire
Atlantique, which had already been part of the UGP in the past.
However, he foundthe oil companyElf twoyearslaterwhere he resumedhis jobasan oil traderforthe
African continent.
He is again noted for hisprofessional qualities. In 1995, his investmentand involvement led him tobe
promoted to the position of oil trading managerwithin the trading department for the entire Eastand
West African zone.
After16yearsof professional success,Jean-Pierre Valentini leftthe Elf groupandjoinedTrafigurain2004.
Trafigura is a Swiss oil brokerage and maritime charter company specializing in the brokerage and
transport of raw materials. The company was created in 1993 by two Frenchmen, Claude Dauphin and
Ericde Turkheimwiththe aimof becomingthe international marketleaderinthisfield. Thecompanynow
ranks asthe world'sthirdlargest independentoil trading company. It isparticularlyvery active inAfrica
where it distributes oil from several countries such as Congo-Brazzaville, Angola and Cameroon.
Jean-Pierre Valentini: a story of black gold
On hisarrival,Jean-Pierre Valentini heldthe positionof oil tradingmanagerfor the WestAfricansector
and withina fewyears, he extended hisactivities tothe EastAfrican sector. His mentorat the time was

2. calledMaurice Nesse. Thisminingengineer,amanassingularashe isintelligent,taughthimthe tricksof
the trade and how to behave and work in Africa.
Drawingonhisexperience andextensive knowledge of oil trading,Jean-Pierre Valentini thusdeveloped
the African markets for Trafigura and in 2008, barely a year after recovering the eastern zone of the
country, became the trading director of the entire the Africa zone. Finally, in 2011, he obtained the
recognition of his peers by being awarded all of the group's activities on the African continent.
Jean-Pierre Valentini hastakenupagoodnumberof challengesduringhiscareer. Hisgreatestprofessional
feat? That of having been able to develop the African markets in a spectacular way both at Elf and at
Trafigura.
After 27 years of a brilliant career in trading for these two major international groups, Jean-Pierre
Valentini became an independent international commodity consultant in 2016 and moved to Geneva,
Switzerland. In particular, he is responsible for managing trading, arbitration and logistics for the
companies that call on him.
In parallel to thisactivity, he investsin differentstart-ups invariousfields suchas mining,luxurywatch
certifications or real estate.
To date, Jean-Pierre Valentini is a shareholder in several companies.
Letuscite,forexample,Tradee,acompanyspecializinginthe certificationof luxurywatches,orReverse
vision, a consulting firm for business and management.
Finally,itisworthmentioningSpaceX,abox foundedbythe veryemblematicElonMusktosendsatellites
intospace andwhichalsosendsNASA satellitesintospace. Indeed,Jean-Pierre Valentini initiallyfinanced
a startupBBReputationwhich viaalgorithmsworkedon the reputationof SMEs tosell servicestobanks
andinsurance companies. BReputationhavingmergedwithSpaceX,itbecame ade factoshareholderof
SpaceX.
Jean-Pierre Valentini is certainly an accomplished businessman, but he also has a vast intellectual
curiosity.
A great esthete, he is a great collector always with a sense of detail and the desire to learn as a
guideline. Itscollectionof vintage watchesisone of the mostremarkable inthe world. Thiscontemporary
artloverisalsoanadmirerof the AveyronpainterPierre Soulages,of whomhe owns,amongothers,the
last canvas painted by the artist in 2018. Closely linked to abstract art from 1940, Pierre Soulages is
particularly known for his use of reflections of the color black, which he calls "black-light" or
"outrenoir". He is one of the main representatives of informal painting. From the 1950s, he obtained
international recognition and exhibited his works alongside the greatest artists of his time.
In 2020, one of his works,entitled Painting (1961), was acquired for20.2 million dollars, or 17.8million
euros. Thisauction,organizedonNovember16atSotheby's,inNew York,makesPierre Soulagesthemost
highly rated French artist in the world.