Founder and chairman of The Electrum Group, one of the world's largest privately held portfolios of gold and silver assets. Largest private collector of Rembrandt works. Founder of Panthera, global wild cat conservation nonprofit. PhD in Modern History from Oxford. Known for contrarian commodity bets: silver from $3.50, oil to $100, gold to $3,000-5,000+. Sold Leor Exploration to Encana for $2.55B in 2007. Controls NovaGold with John Paulson as partner.
Kaplan took control of NovaGold before bankruptcy as a white knight, viewing the Donlin Gold project in Alaska as a crown jewel. John Paulson's $1B investment liberated them from a misaligned Barrick partnership, turning headwinds into tailwinds.
Kaplan states he has two silver companies that are going public next year, calling silver his 'first love' and indicating continued high conviction in the silver thesis despite the macro story never ending.
Barrick attempted a hostile takeover of NovaGold at $16/share, lost, and remained a problematic partner. Kaplan describes the relationship as a 'bear hug' and 'maligned,' and celebrates its exit via Paulson's investment.