Derek Van Eck  [1964-2010]

Industrial/Commercial Leader

Derek Van Eck was a widely respected commodities trader and global assets manager in New York’s financial industry. He co-managed, with his brother Jan van Eck, a global investment management firm named Van Eck Global and headquartered in New York City.

The firm Van Eck Global had been established by the brothers’ father John C. van Eck in 1955, and had a portfolio of about $ 35 billion. Derek joined the family firm in 1993 following his graduation from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He was also a graduate from Williams College in 1986. Both his father and brother were also Williams College graduates. He was born in New York City on September 16, 1964.

During his adult years, Derek had to deal with a neurological disease which apparently caused his death on September 30, 2010 when he was only 46 years old. He left behind his wife Deborah and two children, Willem, age 4 and Kathryn, age four months, his brother Jan Van Eck, and his parents John and Sigrid Van Eck.

During his rather short life Derek was active in philanthropy and served on the board of The Institute for China and the Fred M. Van Eck Forest Fund. With his wife he was also active in the Jericho Project which serves homeless families and American Veterans in New York City.

Derek’s grandfather was Baron Jan Carel Van Eck who was the founder and president of the American branch of the Royal Dutch Shell Oil Corporation, a Dutch-British international oil giant. The grandfather was born in the Netherlands.

REFERENCES

Wee, Gillian, “Van Eck Associates’ Derek Van Eck Dies Unexpectedly”, Bloomberg.com, September 30, 2010

Van Eck Global web site, September 30, 2010, Obituary on Derek Van Eck

New York Times, July 7, 2014 Obituary of Derek Van Eck

Van Eck Global website

Other information was derived from family correspondence and from private memoirs, all supplied by Van Eck family.

 

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