Johann Rupert: Meet The Man Who Displaced Dangote as Africa's Richest Man On Forbes' List
- The South African billionaire who displaced Aliko Dangote as Africa's richest man comes from a family of businesspeople
- Johann Rupert overthrew Dangote on Forbes's list of African billionaires with a net worth of $12 billion
- Dangote lost much of his fortune thanks to Nigeria's devaluation of the naira
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Johann Rupert has displaced Nigeria's Aliko Dangote as Africa's richest man on the Forbes list for the first time in 10 years.
According to real-time billionaire rankings by Forbes, Rupert's wealth rose to $12 billion while Dangote's fortunes declined to N10.8 billion.
Source: UGC
The Rise of Johann Rupert
The South African luxury merchant took the title of the continent's richest person last week as Nigeria devalued its currency leading to a massive loss for Dangote.
The 73-year-old South African comes from a family of business people. The eldest son of Anton Rupert, a business tycoon, founded the Rembrandt Group, a tobacco firm, in 1948, which later became a key source of wealth for the family.
Johann Rupert abandoned his academic studies to take on business.
In 2010, Rupert became the CEO of Compagnie Financiere Richemont after working for Chase Manhattan and Lazard Freres in New York.
Rupert founded the Rand Merchant Bank in 1979 after returning to South Africa.
He held the position of the CEO of the bank until 1984 when it merged to form RMB Holdings. He left to join his father's company, the Rembrandt Group.
In 1988, he established Compagnie Financiere Richemont and became the Non-Executive Director of Rothmans International the same year.
He became the Chairman of the Rembrandt Group in 1991 and assumed the position of Non-Executive Chairman of Gold Fields South Africa Limited five years later.
Rupert's many businesses and ventures
Rupert undertook to restructure his father's business, Rembrandt Group, and founding Remgro Limited and VenFin Limited.
Despite dropping out of school, his business success showed his brilliance and discipline.
Rupert founded the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation in 1990, aiming to address social problems via sports.
Per Forbes, Rupert has other interests beyond business and philanthropy. He partly owns Saracens English rugby team and Anthonij Rupert Wines, named after his brother who died in a car accident.
However, Dangote retains his position as Africa's richest man on Bloomberg Billionaire Index, with a net worth of $18.8 billion.
Kwame Despite, Cheddar, Ibrahim Mahama, 8 Ghanaian multi-millionaires and how they made their wealth
YEN.com.gh previously reported that Ghanaian business owners enjoy political stability, peace, and a diversified economy with plenty of room for investors.
Some have made a name for themselves through lucrative endeavours that have significantly increased their societal wealth. These millionaires are reaping enormous profits in various sectors including media, banking, real estate, oil and gas, manufacturing and many more.
YEN.com.gh has compiled 10 Ghanaians known to be millionaires whose fortunes come from their ability to explore different sectors of the economy.
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Source: Legit.ng
Nathaniel Crabbe (Human-Interest editor) Nathaniel Crabbe is a journalist and editor with a degree in Journalism from the Ghana Institute of Journalism, where he graduated in 2015. He earned his master's from UPSA in December 2023. Before becoming an editor/writer of political/entertainment and human interest stories at Asaase Radio, Crabbe was a news reporter at TV3 Ghana. With experience spanning over ten years, he now works at YEN.com.gh as a human interest editor. You can reach him via nathaniel.crabbe@yen.com.gh.
Audrey Gyamfi (Copy Editor) Audrey Gyamfi is a copy editor at YEN. She graduated from the University of Ghana in 2014 with a degree in Psychology and English. Audrey previously worked for 7 years as a copy editor for Kwadwoan publishing. She can be reached at audrey.gyamfi@yen.com.gh.
