In this contemporary world of complex businesses, rising economy, and an eternal quest for becoming richer than anyone else, the billionaires are an inspiration for all who are running at a constant pace.
Wealth and money in today’s time have become an indispensable tool to gauge one’s power and the position in the society. The proverbial phrase, Might is Right fits just perfectly in today’s era. Acquiring immense wealth and power comes with a lot of difficulties and hurdles which need to be tackled with patience and strategy. Often time, people overlook the amount of hard work and unbeatable dedication that goes into making a successful business. A successful recipe is often the one with simple, everyday ingredients but with an innovative methodology. Needless to say, once you get the coveted crown everybody is there to look up to you for inspiration and look for a chance to share your success story.
And so, we are back again to inspire you with the successful stories of top ten richest people in South Africa this year with our revised edition. You will be surprised as there are lots of new entrants into the coveted club.
Some have climbed up the stairs while others have receded back a few steps. A few are there who have always aspired to be in this position and this time, they have achieved it. We have compiled this list after carefully examining the facts and figures from the credible sources including Forbes, Bloomberg, and Ventures Africa. Let’s get started who is on the top:
1. Johann Rupert With a net worth of $7.6 Billion, Johann Rupert is a chairman of a goods-producing firm, Compagnie Financiere Richemont and the Chairman of an investment firm, Remgro. He has bagged the first position in this list. Johann was brought up in Stellenbosch. He studied economics and law at the University of Stellenbosch. He started his career as a banker and soon became the richest man in South Africa. His story is a perfect depiction of prolonged hard work and unfailing dedication.
2. Nicky Oppenheimer Nicky Oppenheimer is placed at number two position with net worth of $6.8 Billion. He obtained his master’s degree from the Oxford University. He is an investor with a previous experience in the mining industry (Diamonds).
3. Allan Gray He has a net worth of $6.2 Billion and is at the number three position with his interests in financial services. Studied at Rhodes University, he started his career as a chartered accountant. He is the proud owner of Allan Gray Limited, South Africa’s largest private owned investment firm. He also owns Orbis, an asset managing firm.
4. Christoffel Wiese With an estimated $5.4 Billion net worth, Christoffel Wiese is at the fourth from the top. Studied law at the University of Stellenbosch, he specializes in the Retail Sector. Christoffel has stakes in Pepkor and Shoprite, clothing and grocery based firm with a share of 44 and 15 percent respectively.
5. Koos Bekker Koos has a net worth calculated at $2.6 Billion. He is a media tycoon and is placed at number five. He served as the chief executive officer of Naspers, a media firm. He also invested in a Russian mail company, Mail.ru. Also, he was founding director of MTN, African mobile telecom firm.
6. Stephen Saad Stephen Saad is placed at number six on the top with a net worth of $1.7 Billion. He is considered as a seasoned businessman in the pharmaceutical sector. He started with small firms in the pharmaceutical sector and soon founded the Aspen Pharmacare, South Africa’s leading drug manufacturer. GlaxoSmithKline, a British pharmaceutical company is reportedly one of the largest shareholders in Aspen Pharmacare.
7. Patrice Motsepe Patrice Motsepe has an estimated worth of $1.59 Billion and is at the number eight on the list. Also considered as the only black billionaire in South Africa, he is the founder and executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, a firm with interests in metals such as gold and platinum. He is the only mining giants of the country with his assets in rich minerals.
8. Atul Gupta With an estimated net worth calculated at $773 Million, Atul Gupta is one among the ten richest man in South Africa. He is the top gun among the three brothers who has scaled hard and fast to become the richest South African of the country. The Gupta family has businesses in various industries like computer equipment, media, and mining. The family first started with Sahara Computers and Sahara Systems and never looked back since then.
9. Lauritz Dippenaar With an estimated worth of $730 Million, Lauritz Dippenaar specializes in banking and insurance and is placed at number nine on the top. He started his career as a chartered accountant and went on to become the co-founder of Rand Consolidated Investing firm. Also, he is the non-executive chairman of FirstRand, a banking and insurance firm with interests in South Africa, India, and the other neighboring countries. He has also funded his own, Laurie Scholarship offering $44,000 a year to South African postgraduate students with exceptional academic career and potential.
10. Desmond Sacco He has a net worth of around $680 Million and is at the number ten. He studied Geology at the University of South Africa. He inherited Assore Group, a mining firm, from his father Guido Sacco who was the original founder of the company. He is one the few mining giants in the country including Patrice Motsepe.
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