Emerging Market Gold

摘要

After a day carving the slopes in the French Alps, three middle-aged men settle in for tea in the lounge of Les Airelles, a luxurious inn at the top of the mountains in Courchevel, France. Sinking into a chintz sofa, Alexander Machke-vich, a head taller and more than a few pounds lighter than his two companions, exchanges greetings with a gaggle of the hotel's well-heeled guests. His shorter, stouter pals tease him about being the handsome one who gets all the attention. "He is the face of this trio," admits Patokh Chodiev. Seated to his left, Alijan Ibragimov laughs approvingly as Chodiev recounts the time they insisted Machkevich grow back a mustache after he had shaved it off. Every Christmas the three men gather in Courchevel to trade barbs, ski and, most importantly, tend to a Swiss-incorporated metals and mining conglomerate, Eurasian Natural Resources Corp., in which they own equal shares. Last year ENRC generated an $800 million profit on sales, mostly in Kazakhstan, of $2.9 billion. Taken public, it might command a market value of $6 billion.