Roy Sebag

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Roy Sebag
BornRoy Sebag
(1985-06-28) June 28, 1985 (age 36)
ResidenceToronto, Ontario, Canada
OccupationEntrepreneur, Investor
Years active2008–present
Known forGoldMoney Inc (formerly BitGold), Menē

Roy Sebag (born June 28, 1985) is an Israeli-Canadian contrarian investor and entrepreneur.[1][2] He is the founder of precious metal savings and payments platform GoldMoney Inc, and serves as Chief Executive Officer.[3][4] He is also the founder of cryptomining company Bitfarms, Ltd. a publicly traded company on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and served as its CEO until April 2019.[5][6][7] Sebag co-founded Menē, a designer, manufacturer, and online seller of 24 karat gold jewelry, along with Diana Widmaier Picasso, granddaughter of Pablo Picasso.[8]

Career[]

Investments[]

In 2011, Sebag was a managing partner of Essentia Equity, one of several lenders that invested $43 million of rescue financing into American Apparel helping the company avert bankruptcy, but the company later went bankrupt.[9] In September 2012, Sebag invested in German automotive company Porsche Automobil Holding SE. In an interview with the financial newspaper Barron's, Sebag argued that the legal overhang due to the 2008 short squeeze of Volkswagen provided a unique opportunity to purchase shares of Porsche at a discount.[10]

Natural Resource Holdings[]

In 2010, Sebag formed Natural Resource Holdings, an asset consolidator of historically delineated natural resource deposits.[11]

Since 2011, Sebag and Natural Resource Holdings have been compiling and distributing a database of the world's largest gold mines.[12]

Goldmoney Inc.[]

Following the 2008 financial crisis, Sebag met Josh Crumb, a senior metals strategist at Goldman Sachs, and the two developed the idea of a full-reserve banking gold-based financial institution. This ultimately led to the formation and launch of BitGold, which subsequently became GoldMoney, after BitGold acquired that company in 2015 as a reverse merger. In May 2016, Sebag won the Canadian Capital Markets Deal of the Year Award for the GoldMoney acquisition.[13][14] In March 2019, GoldMoney announced it was shutting down its cryptocurrency business.[1]

Mene Inc.[]

In October of 2016, Sebag founded Mene Inc. a luxury online jewelry venture, along with Diana Widmaier Picasso, the granddaughter of Pablo Picasso.[8][15]

Industry analysis[]

Sebag's views on precious metals have been covered by CNBC, Bloomberg,[16] and The Wall Street Journal[17]

Fortress Technologies[]

Sebag currently serves as Chairman of Fortress Technologies Inc. (TSX-V: FORT) which is a well-capitalized company operating a crypto-mining business and is currently evaluating emerging opportunities in technology sectors. Fortress is focused on developing projects where access to growth capital is highly valued.

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Roy Sebag exits cryptocurrency market". Globes. 10 March 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Executive Profile Roy Sebag". Bloomberg. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  3. ^ "You Want to Buy Art. Is It About Love or Money?". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  4. ^ Waddell, Nick. "GoldMoney Announces Graduation to the Toronto Stock Exchange". Cantech Letter. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  5. ^ "Toronto Stock Exchange Profile: Bitfarms Ltd". TASE Site. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Blockchain merger to make Natural Resource NIS 2b co". Globes.co.il. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  7. ^ "Crypto Mining Outfit Bitfarms to Depreciate $19 Million as Founder Denounces Bitcoin". Ctech. 2019-11-03. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  8. ^ a b "Here's your chance to finally own a Picasso". nypost.com. 2017-06-15. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  9. ^ "American Apparel gets up to $43M in rescue financing, avoiding bankruptcy". New York Times. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  10. ^ "Porsche Preferred Shares Merit a Faster Track". Barons. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  11. ^ "Global Gold Mine and Deposit Rankings 2013". Visual Capitalist. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  12. ^ "Global Gold Mines and Deposits Ranking 2012". Visual Capitalist. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  13. ^ "Will gold continue to shine?". CNBC. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  14. ^ "Gold starts to shine for investors". Financial Times. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  15. ^ "Jewelry Worth Its Grams in Gold". New York Times. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  16. ^ "The Guy Who Called Bitcoin a Bubble Now Wants to Help You Store It". Bloomberg. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  17. ^ "Coronavirus Sparks a Global Gold Rush". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
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