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Michael W. Scherb
Michael Winston Scherb (born November 5, 1981) is an Austrian/Singaporean businessman, investor and philanthropist. He is the Founder and CEO of Appian Capital Advisory LLP and the Appian Way Charitable Foundation.

Early life and education
Scherb was born in Taiwan to Austrian and Singaporean parents, and moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where he grew up before moving to various locations throughout his life including: Frankfurt (Germany), Canterbury (UK), Beijing (China), Paris (France) and New York (USA) before settling in London (UK).

He holds a B.B.A. in International Business and a M.A. in Finance.

Investment career
Scherb started his career ~20 years ago in Beijing structuring foreign investment into China, before joining J.P. Morgan’s Metals and Mining team in London where he worked on ~US$185 billion worth of Metals and Mining transactions across M&A, equity and debt.

He founded Appian Capital Advisory LLP in 2011 and has overseen the development of Appian into a leading Private Equity investor in the Metals and Mining sector.

Investment philosophy
Scherb is best known for blending long term value-investing principles with the mining sector, a space known for very short-term irrational thinking. His investing style espouses second-level thinking and long-term value investing in a very hands-on operational manner.

Appian’s investments are largely undisclosed, but realizations include:
 * Roxgold, acquired by Fortuna Silver
 * Peak Rare Earths, sale of royalty
 * Caserones, sale of copper NSR royalty
 * Avanco, sale to OZ Minerals
 * Atlantic Nickel and Mineração Vale Verde, sale to Sibanye-Stillwater

Appian has raised multiple funds and manages multiple billion dollars of capital for primarily institutional investors such as pensions, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations and family offices.

Returns are not published, although the Wall Street Journal has reported returns over 60% IRR per annum for investors.

Philanthropy
Scherb is Chairman of the Trustees of the Appian Way Charitable Foundation which focuses mainly on children, women and the disenfranchised. The Foundation assists Appian’s portfolio companies in allocating capital into the most impactful social programmes in the communities and principal regions Appian invests into, and has created ~11,000 jobs in primarily Latin America and Africa.

In 2021, Scherb donated an undisclosed sum to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Wealth
Scherb’s wealth is not reported, however one of his best investments was covered in the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times in 2021, which is the acquisition of a bankrupt nickel mine in Brazil for US$63m which was subsequently sold for US$1bn creating US$937m of value for his investors, of which US$187m would have been kept by Scherb and his team.

Personal
Scherb is unmarried but lives with his female partner and their two children.

Other
Scherb is a recipient of the Financial News Top 40 under 40 Private Equity Leaders Award.

In December 2021, Scherb was voted in the top 35 of Mining's Most Influential people according to Mining Journal. .