De Beers Comes to America In January, three top De Beers execs hailed the end of its 70-year exile from the United States. “De Beers has been banned from doing business in the United States for the last 70 years. Tonight, we are back,” CEO Philippe Mellier told a packed meeting at the Diamond Manufacturers & Importers and Association in New York City, Jan. 8. “We hope De Beers will grow its presence in the U.S.,” Mellier later told JCK. “We hope to be able to visit our customers in their factories. To have [U.S.] headquarters, we don’t know if that is necessary. But we will be back.” In the last few years, executives have appeared at U.S. charity events and industry forums, yet this marked the first time they had discussed business publicly. (The change was generally credited to settling the $300 million antitrust lawsuit against De Beers.) Mellier said De Beers