Dr. Ulrich (Bob) Trogele has enjoyed a 35-plus-year leadership career in global agribusiness, most recently as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President for American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE: AVD), from which he retired in May 2024. Now Bob continues his journey and parlays his extensive industry experience as an independent board director, investor, entrepreneur, and thought leader in global agribusiness. Currently he is CEO of ProAgInvest LLC and President of two investment entities, AMAG Farms LLLP and Trogele Energy and Consultancy LLC, based in Newport Beach, California, USA, with an investment focus on agriculture and oil and gas, respectively.
Bob has traced his lengthy career through roles of increasing responsibility and influence at “large caps” such as Hoechst, Aventis, and Bayer as well as “mid-caps” including Schering and FMC. He has particular working experience and knowledge of all major sectors of agribusiness—agrochemicals, biologicals, nutrients, seed and genetics, application equipment and precision agriculture—throughout the Americas and in Europe and Asia.
Most recently Bob helped to transform American Vanguard, a “small cap,” into a technology boutique via product and company acquisitions, assembly of a biological and micronutrient portfolio platform, making targeted investments in organic growth and market access, creating a downstream innovation pipeline of new products and investment in precision agriculture, and fostering global development capabilities. He directed all “licensing in” of AVD technology through his vast network of business contacts by building strategic partnerships and/or business ventures and platforms.
As a business executive, Bob’s foremost career hallmark has been entrepreneurialism—managing both short- and long-term profitability to drive enterprise sustainability with a particular emphasis on market access and technology acquisition. He’s a transformational leader in strategic focus, direction, and execution driven by financial planning and discipline. He creates shareholder value for all stakeholders via a growth and profit orientation that seeks to create innovation and technology differentiation; gain business expansion by portfolio, region, and segment; operate “SMART” business platforms”; manage risk along the value chain; generate intellectual property; and pursue mergers and acquisitions. He has re-engineered, restricted, transformed, acquired, and integrated companies, and divested businesses both in the U.S. and internationally. Further he exhibits international business and management leadership through cross-cultural team building and diverse talent management and systems.
Additionally, Bob “gives back” by educating Berlin School of Economics & Law MBA student to be future leaders in global business and society, and by presenting at numerous global agribusiness conferences along with contributing articles and interviews to global agribusiness media. He also is a keen competitor—he’s a past Olympian who represented Germany internationally in a total of 126 basketball games and additionally won a number of championships as a professional and collegiate basketball player.
Interested in continuing a dialogue with Bob Trogele? Contact him here.