South African billionaire and the second richest man in Africa, Johann Rupert, saw his net worth rise by more than $400 million in the first week of 2023.
This is coming after his net worth previously shed $1.09 billion in 2022 as a result of a decline in the market value of his Swiss luxury goods holding company, Compagnie Financiere Richemont (Richemont).
Rupert primarily derives his wealth from his 9.14 per cent ownership stake in Richemont. The premium brands owned by Richemont include Chloe, Dunhill, Alaa, Cartier, and Delvaux.
The top South African billionaire has seen his net worth increase from $10.9 billion to $11.4 billion since the start of the new year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which tracks and compares the fortunes of the world’s 500 richest people.
What attributed to the increase: Richemont’s stock has increased as investors anticipate the luxury goods company to post strong financial results at the end of the first nine months of its 2023 fiscal year. This has increased Rupert’s net worth.
The market value of Rupert’s 9.14 per cent stake in the company has increased from $7.71 billion to $8.37 billion as a result of the recent increase in shares of the luxury goods group on the Swiss and Johannesburg stock exchanges.
The increase in share value has helped the South African billionaire surpass Goh Cheng Liang, a Singaporean billionaire businessman who owns the majority of Nippon Paint, the largest paint manufacturer in Asia, and move up to the 161st richest person in the world.
About Johann Rupert: The eldest child of billionaire industrialist Anton Rupert and his wife Huberte, Johann Peter Rupert was born in Stellenbosch on June 1, 1950. His father, a successful entrepreneur, had established the Rembrandt Group, a tobacco company, in 1948.
Rupert enrolled at the University of Stellenbosch to study corporate law and economics after finishing high school there. He decided against finishing his degree and instead moved to New York, where he accepted a trainee position with Chase Manhattan.
After spending five years in New York, where he first worked for Chase and then Lazard Freres, he went back to South Africa and established Rand Merchant Bank. Rupert joined the family business a few years after the bank merged with Rand Consolidated Investments. Rembrandt expanded into the wine and spirits industry as well as several South African industries, such as banking, mining, food, and packaging. Rupert succeeded his father as chairman of Rembrandt in the late 1980s.
Rupert serves as chairman of Richemont, Remgro which is a restructured iteration of Rembrandt Group created in 2000 and Reinet Investments, a holding company he founded in 2009 to control Rembrandt’s stake in British American Tobacco. An avid sportsman, he designed the course at his Leopard Creek Golf Club in Nelspruit, which he bought in 1995 with professional golfer Gary Player.
His philanthropic Acts: The billionaire founded the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation to assist young people in overcoming poverty, homelessness, AIDS, and violence through sports-related community projects. He is also the chairman of the South African PGA Tour and a lifelong member of the European Tour. He is the chairman of the Peace Parks Foundation, which safeguards biodiversity in South Africa’s border regions. He is an enthusiast for conservation.
