Wealth
Staff Writer
·30 Jun 2024
Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list shows that South Africa has seven dollar billionaires, topped by Johann Rupert with a net wealth of $11.6 billion.
Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires rankings track the daily movements of the world’s richest people based on their publicly reported assets.
The wealth-tracking platform provides ongoing updates on the net worth and ranking of each individual confirmed by Forbes to be a billionaire.
“Individuals whose fortunes are significantly tied to private companies will have their net worths updated once a day,” Forbes said.
The richest person in the world is South African-born Elon Musk, with a net wealth of $221 billion.
Musk is a serial entrepreneur who has founded electric car maker Tesla, rocket producer SpaceX and tunnelling startup Boring Company.
Most of his wealth is based on his shareholding and options in Tesla. He owns about 12% of Tesla excluding options.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ranks second with a net wealth of $215 billion. He started the eCommerce giant Amazon in 1994 out of his Seattle garage.
Bezos stepped down as CEO in 2021 to become executive chairman. He now owns slightly less than 10% of the company.
The third richest person in the world is Bernard Arnault, the chairman and CEO of LVMH, with a net worth of $193 billion.
Bernard Arnault oversees the LVMH empire of 75 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora.
Last month, Arnault took a personal equity stake Johann Rupert’s Richemont, sparking speculation of a potential partnership.
Richemont has a strong defence against unwanted suitors because its chairman, Rupert, controls 51% of the voting rights despite owning only 10.2% of the capital.
Over the past few years, Rupert, who is 74, has emphasised his desire to keep the group independent.
Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires rankings for South Africa show that Rupert tops the list, followed by Nicky Oppenheimer, and Patrice Motsepe.
Others on the list include Naspers chairman Koos Bekker, Capitec’s Michiel Le Roux, and Shoprite’s Christo Wiese.
Interestingly, four of South Africa’s six billionaires, including Rupert, Bekker, Wiese, and Le Roux, attended Stellenbosch University.
Rupert studied towards a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) in Economics and Company Law. However, he dropped out and started a banking career in New York.
Bekker completed a Bachelor of Arts (BA) at Stellenbosch University before doing a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) at Wits and an MBA at Columbia Business School.
Le Roux completed Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) and Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degrees at Stellenbosch University.
Christo Wiese completed a Bachelor of Arts (LLB) at Stellenbosch University. He was in the Wilgenhof residence with former Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson.
Nicky Oppenheimer attended Oxford University, while Patrice Motsepe studied at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and the University of Swaziland.
Johann Rupert and Family – $11.6 billion
Much of Johann Rupert’s wealth has been built off the success of his father, Anton, who started the Voorbrand Tobacco Company in the 1940s.
This company soon became known as the Rembrandt Group, following a period of strong growth.
Johann revolutionised Rembrandt, leading the spin-off of its international assets into Compagnie Financiere Richement.
Remgro was formed in the early 2000s following a merger of two of Rupert’s businesses – Rembrandt and VenFin. Johann is still the chairman of Remgro.
In 2000, Rupert was appointed chairman and CEO of Richemont, and the company’s non-luxury-related activities were spun off into Reinet Investments in 2008.
Today, Rupert is the chairman of Remgro, Richemont and Reinet. The family owns a controlling stake in all three companies.
Nicky Oppenheimer and family – $9.5 billion
The Oppenheimer family amassed their vast wealth largely through the diamond trade and mining.
Nicky’s father, Harry, was the chairman of De Beers and the mining giant Anglo-American. He oversaw the world’s largest coal, diamonds, gold, and platinum suppliers.
Nicky Oppenheimer decided to sell 40% of DeBeers to Anglo in 2012, which raised $5.2 billion in cash. He started Fireblade Aviation in 2014, which operates chartered flights.
The Oppenheimer family contribute to conservation efforts in Southern Africa and owns 720 square miles of land across South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.
Patrice Motsepe – $3.1 billion
Patrice Motsepe made most of his money through his mining company, African Rainbow Minerals, which he launched in 1997.
African Rainbow Minerals was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 2002. It merged with Harmony Gold and acquired Anglovaal Mining’s unproductive mines in 2003.
After this merger, Motsepe took up the role of executive chairman of ARM – a position he holds to this day.
Ubuntu-Botho Investments (UBI), Motsepe’s investment vehicle, acquired a significant stake in Sanlam as the insurer’s black empowerment partner in 2004.
As of 2022, UBI owns 17.8% of Africa’s largest non-banking financial services group, and Motsepe is currently deputy chairman of Sanlam.
Koos Bekker – $2.8 billion
Koos Bekker is the chairman and former chief executive of the global technology powerhouse Naspers.
Bekker steered the company away from traditional media and into pay television, mobile communication, and internet services.
Bekker’s visionary investment in Tencent, a nascent Chinese tech company in 2001, cemented his financial success.
This gamble proved remarkably successful, as Tencent’s subsequent rise drove Naspers’ own growth trajectory.
Bekker’s wealth, tied to stock options within Naspers, benefited immensely from this strategic decision.
In addition to his stake in Naspers, Bekker owns several wine estates in South Africa, including the well-known Babylonstoren in Stellenbosch.
He also owns other properties across the country and abroad, including a multi-million-pound estate, The Newt, in Somerset in the United Kingdom.
Michiel le Roux – $1.4 billion
Michiel le Roux founded Capitec in 2001 and has grown significantly since then. He was chairman of Capitec for almost ten years and still owns approximately 11% of the bank.
Le Roux trained as a lawyer but never practised law. He had previous banking experience with Boland Bank before starting Capitec with Riaan Stassen, who was the first CEO of the bank.
He has recently come under fire for his significant donations to the Democratic Alliance through his investment holding companies, such as Fynbos Ekwiteit.
He is a big contributor to political parties in South Africa, especially leading up to the 2024 national elections.
Christo Wiese – $1.3 billion
Christo Wiese was born in Upington in 1941 and went on to matriculate from Paarl Boys High and graduate with an LLB from Stellenbosch University.
Wiese joined Pep as a director under Renier van Rooyen. Wiese’s father was one of the first investors in Pep, which began in small towns in rural Karoo.
Wiese soon became chairman of Shoprite Holdings, where he worked with Whitey Basson to rapidly grow the group.
He oversaw its expansion from a group of eight supermarkets into a company that employs over 150,000 workers and has a market value of R132 billion.
Wiese remains the largest individual shareholder in Shoprite, with 10.67%, second only to the Government Employees Pension Fund.
Read: R461 million a day for South Africa’s richest people since January
