Barrick silences its biggest critic by buying out Randgold

For more than two decades, Mark Bristow has been a thorn in the side of Barrick Gold. Now he’s its closest partner. The 59-year-old South African will take the role of chief executive officer at Barrick after the Canadian company inked a $5.4-billion deal to buy out Randgold Resources. It’s a bigger stage for Bristow, known as an outsider for his sharp and frequent criticisms of the gold industry and a genius at running an African mine.