Johann Rupert’s worth hits more than R200 billion
Overtaking the Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote to become the richest person in Africa, Johann Rupert has now climbed up to first place of the richest people in Africa as he now has a net worth of R216 billion ($11.9 billion). Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List has ranked Rupert as the 145th richest person in the world,
Johann-Ruperts-worth-hits-more-than-R200-billion
Overtaking the Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote to become the richest person in Africa, Johann Rupert has now climbed up to first place of the richest people in Africa as he now has a net worth of R216 billion ($11.9 billion).
Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List has ranked Rupert as the 145th richest person in the world, with Dangote now ranked 170th with a net worth of R196 billion ($10.8 billion).
Now being teh chairman of Remgro, Richemont, and Reinet Investments, Rupert’s wealth has skyrocketed by R40 billion in 2023 thanks to the rise in his luxury goods company Richemont’s share price.
With the company reporting strong results in May, Richemont’s share price has gone up by 33.21% this year. The eldest son of Anton Rupert is Johann.
Johann’s ventures from the 1940s are the reason why the Rupert family is so wealthy. He established a tobacco company back in the 1940s called Voorbrand. That company then became the forerunner of Rembrandt, which entered the South African cigarette and tobacco industry in 1948.
Listing on the JSE less than a decade after being founded, Rembrandt was a runaway success in South Africa. In this time, the founder of the company was studying economics at the University of Stellenbosch but he didn’t complete the studies as he went on to pursue a career in business.
Rupert worked for Chase Manhattan and Lazard Freres in New York before returning to South Africa in 1979 to start Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), and then he reigned as CEO of RMB until 1984 when RMB and Rand Consolidated Investments merged to form RMB Holdings. That is when he then left the company to join Rembrandt.
Not too long after joining his father’s company, Rupert spun off Rembrandt’s international assets to form Compagnie Financiere Richemont, a Swiss luxury goods holding company with brands such as Cartier and Montblanc.
Rembrandt and Richemont consolidated their tobacco interests in Rothmans International In 1995. A couple of year later, it merged these interests with those of British American Tobacco.
Rupert was appointed chairman and CEO of Richemont in 2000, and the company’s non-luxuries-related activities were spun off into Reinet Investments in 2008.
