Ludwig Jesselson (August 29, 1910 – April 3, 1993) was a German-born metal trader who served as president and CEO of Philipp Brothers.
[1] In 1933, with the rise of Adolf Hitler, he left Germany to work for another Hirsch family-owned firm in the Netherlands, Groma N.V., where he met Julius Philipp, another German-Jewish emigree metal trader.
[1] In 1937, as the situation in Europe became more difficult, Jesselson inquired of Ullmann for a position in New York City and was hired due to his extensive knowledge of the scrap business.
[1] In 1939, he was given responsibility for a new venture, Filbro Overseas Corporation, tasked with developing Philipp Brothers sale and export of metals and ores from South America and the Far East.
[1] Jesselson then focused on the needs of new countries formed from decolonization which needed capital to develop their resources and channels to sell their production: Philipps Brothers loaned funds to develop new mines using the metals and minerals produced as collateral with the condition that Philipp Brothers would also secure exclusive long-term sales contracts to sell the output of the mines.
[1] In the 1970s, Jesselson involved the firm in petroleum trading encouraging the firm's manager in Spain, Marc Rich, to team up with logistics expert Pincus Green, to develop innovative transactions to profit from oil trading which at the time was controlled by OPEC and the top seven western oil producers.