Noble Group’s patriarch is walking away with scraps as the company he created is pulled to pieces. Investors are left wanting the one thing the company needs: a vote of confidence.

The embattled commodities trader announced on June 3 that Richard Elman, the former scrapyard worker who helped found the company three decades ago would leave within the next year. It is an unexpected turn for a man who seemed to be clinging on tightly, and comes just days after the departure of Yusuf Alireza, the company's chief executive.