Wayne Sharpe

Early life
Wayne Sharpe (born 20 April 1957) is an Australian businessman.
Sharpe was born in Melbourne, Australia. He joined the Royal Australian Navy at fifteen years old and became a qualified computer engineer.
Career
Sharpe spent nine years in the Royal Australian Navy and left in early 1980 to begin his career as a door to door salesman. In 1989 Sharpe created a business consultancy firm that employed 40 people.
Wayne Sharpe is the executive chairman and founder of Carbon Trade Exchange (CTX), the world’s first and largest global electronic platform for spot trading of voluntary carbon credits.
Background
Sharpe began studying the issue of climate change in the late 1990s and became increasingly concerned about lack of action to deal with it.
After identifying a gap in communication and transaction capability between the business and environmental sectors, he became committed to providing the technology necessary to deliver the financial resources to a wide array of projects aimed at solving the challenge of climate change.
He conceived and founded the exchange in 2007 and designed the technology and infrastructure. He then led the development of the platform, as the first global exchange based on Microsoft Azure cloud technology.
He then designed and developed the technology interfaces with multiple registries (Voluntary and Regulated) and banks including Deutsche Bank and Westpac.
He built relationships with every major carbon credit standard in the world, and all major environmental organizations and regulators. He speaks at key global events such as the UN Climate Change Conference, World Climate Summit, Carbon Expos and many other business summits.
Before establishing Carbon Trade Exchange, Sharpe founded Bartercard, the world's largest non-cash credit unit (barter) exchange.
During his tenure, Bartercard facilitated over $40 billion in trade, via more than 30 million transactions in 20 countries and currencies and at its peak had 136 offices worldwide. He served as CEO for 21 years, before selling the flagship operation in Australia in 2007 to establish Carbon Trade Exchange. He won every Barter industry award on offer (12) and had one created (Outstanding Achievement Award) in his honor. He is a member of the International Reciprocal Trade Associations (I.R.T.A.) Hall of Fame.
Bartercard also won awards globally including Best International and Best Domestic Franchise system (Australia), Best Entrepreneurial Business (Hong Kong) and Best Business Tool (UK). Sharpe is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Society of Senior Executives.
Sharpe sold his remaining shares of Bartercard in early 2012 to focus exclusively on CTX. He has been its sole investor in its first seven years from R&D to global operations.
In the late 1980s, he founded his own financial services company on the Gold Coast, Precision Financial Services, which still operates. He resides in the Gold Coast, Australia, and commutes to the CTX headquarters in Sydney. He counts many sports, particularly tennis and jet skiing, in his list of pursuits. He is also a philanthropist engaged in many annual charitable events, such as the Qantas CEO Cook Off initiative.

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