Forbes has published its annual Rich List, featuring five South Africans among the world's wealthiest.
Five South African billionaires have made Forbes’s annual Rich List of 2019, which lists the wealthiest people in the world. Four of these South Africans have been on the list in previous years.
The billionaires include Nicky Oppenheimer, Johann Rupert, Patrice Motsepe, Koos Bekker (pictured) and the newcomer Michiel le Roux.
Three South Africans’ names dropped off the list in 2018, including Aspen Pharmacare founder Stephen Saad, Assor Group’s Desmond Sacco, and Shoprite and Steinhoff investor Christo Wiese.
The Top 5’s net worth for 2019:
- Nicky Oppenheimer (200): US$7.3 billion
- Johann Rupert (317): US$5.5 billion
- Patrice Motsepe (962): US$2.4 billion
- Koos Bekker (1,008): US$2.3 billion
- Michiel le Roux (1,818): US$1.2 billion
Oppenheimer was formerly the chairman of De Beers diamond mining company and of its subsidiary, the Diamond Trading Company. He was also former deputy chairman of Anglo American.
Rupert is the eldest son of business tycoon Anton Rupert. He is the chairman of the Swiss-based luxury-goods company Richemont as well as the South Africa-based company Remgro.
Motsepe is the founder and executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals. He also sits on several company boards, including being the non-executive chairman of Harmony Gold and the deputy chairman of Sanlam.
Bekker is chairman of Naspers. As a result of a project paper, he, and a few young colleagues founded one of the first two pay television services outside the US. M-Net and its sister companies like Multichoice eventually expanded to 48 countries across Africa.
Le Roux founded Capitec Bank in 2001 and owns about an 11 percent stake. He served as chairman of the board of Capitec from 2007 to 2016 and has continued on as a board member. He previously ran Boland Bank.
