In this episode of Championship Leadership, we interviewed Anthony Milewski, Entrepreneur, Investor and Chairman of Nickel28- a diversified battery metals investment company with a focus on metal streaming and royalty agreements. After graduating in law school, Anthony chose not to practice law and decided to proceed in private equity and investment. Having found his passion in the investment world, he pursued his career in the mining industry, and served different positions such as company director, investor and founder. He was recognized as “Future Mining Leader” in 2016 owing to his experience and invaluable skills in the metal industry. Today, Anthony Milewski has another mission-to create companies to help the world transition to a more sustainable kind of future through investing in nickel and cobalt. Know more about Anthony Milewski!! Tune in to this episode!!
About the guest:
Anthony Milewski has two passions: the outdoors and investing. At any moment you might find him skiing in France, fly fishing in Alaska, white water rafting in Oregon, or wide awake in the middle of the night analyzing news releases and financial statements.
Anthony realized early on that a truly rewarding career needed to include following his passions. But how to do this? As a Fulbright scholar, he spent time in the former Soviet Union and saw firsthand the changes brought about by the privatization of vast swaths of the regional economies. He also noted the great potential in building companies on the back of these changes and, for a time, was employed by Renaissance Capital in Moscow, Russia, working with entrepreneurs and natural resource companies. Upon graduating from the University of Washington, with a MA in international studies and a JD in law, he took a job at New York based Skadden, Arps where he became immersed in commodity transactions. Anthony would later transition from Skadden to Firebird Management in New York where he worked in the Global Macro funds.
Anthony’s time at Firebird had a profound impact on his investment style. He realized that you can “get a call right” but the “timing wrong”. Investing, as much as anything, is about understanding the themes and ideas that shape our world, environment, and capital markets. It was this realization that helped to shape his views on identifying themes, thinking about liquidity, and ultimately making successful investment decisions. No one ever lost money selling for a gain! After leaving Firebird he went on to work with other major funds as a c-level executive specializing in global origination and investment processes. This time cemented his views on risk mitigation and liquidity.
After years in the asset management business, Anthony realized it was time to strike out on his own. Along with his business partner, Justin Cochrane, he founded and took public several companies. To date, he has helped raise over a billion dollars for listed companies on various exchanges around the globe. In a sense, this was Act Two of his career.
All told, Anthony has served as a founder, advisor, director, executive and investor. He now pursues investment ideas that make money and make the world a better place. That might mean investing in nickel as key ingredient in batteries, carbon as a way of saving forests, copper for the electrification of things, artificial intelligence to help reduce the impact of farming on our environment — the list goes on.