The number of jobs Johann Rupert’s empire has created in South Africa

Johann Rupert, South Africa’s wealthiest businessman, has created hundreds of thousands of jobs in South Africa alone.

The latest Forbes and Bloomberg billionaire indexes estimate Rupert’s net wealth to be between $11.3 billion (R206 billion) and $13.5 billion (R246 billion).

Forbes reports that most of the world’s billionaires have amassed their wealth through finance and investments.

This sector boasts the highest number of billionaires (372), with many accumulating their fortune through hedge funds, private equity, venture capitalism, and fintech.

This is also the case for Johann Rupert.

He acquired his wealth primarily through significant holdings in Richemont, a Switzerland-based luxury holding company, as well as stakes in Remgro, a South African investment firm, and Reinet Investments.

After joining his father’s company, Johann spun off Rembrandt’s international assets to create Compagnie Financiere Richemont, a Swiss luxury goods holding company. This new company includes brands such as Cartier and Montblanc.

In 2000, Rembrandt underwent a restructuring, which resulted in the formation of two publicly traded holding companies—Remgro and Venfin.

Remgro managed Rembrandt’s traditional assets, while Venfin acquired the technology-oriented assets.

Rupert was appointed chairman and CEO of Richemont in 2000. In 2008, the company’s non-luxury-related activities were spun off into Reinet Investments.

Today, Rupert is the chairman of Remgro, Richemont and Reinet. The family owns a controlling stake in all three companies.

While Rupert’s wealth is often a topic of debate, there is little on the positive impact this wealth has on South Africa.

Considering this, BusinessTech looked at the latest company reports of Rupert’s companies and their biggest subsidiaries or stakes to see how many people these entities employ within their South African operations.

Remgro and its biggest holdings, such as Mediclinic and RCL Foods, are responsible for an estimated 77,003 jobs in South Africa.

Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA and its subsidiaries are responsible for roughly 37,117 jobs, while Reinet Investments’ largest investments contribute a respectable 1,517 jobs in South Africa.

In Reinet Investments’ case, the company and Reinet Fund are managed by a general partner, Reinet Investments Manager S.A. (the ‘General Partner’), and the Fund Manager.

These general partners carry out the usual responsibilities of a board of directors and the general management of a corporation.

As a result, neither the company nor the Reinet Fund has a board of directors, executive management, or employees.

However, Pension Insurance Corporation is Reinet’s largest investment, making up 49.49% of the company’s portfolio, while British American Tobacco comes in second, taking up 31%.

These companies employ 547 people and 970, respectively.

Collectively, Rupert’s ventures currently employ an estimated 115,637—at the very least.

Notably, this is likely more if you consider all the companies Rupert is involved with in South Africa, meaning this number can be considered conservative.

To put this number into perspective, Rupert has a hand in employing almost the same amount of people as South Africa’s big four banks combined.

According to the banks’ latest reports, FirstRand employs roughly 38,800 South Africans, followed by Standard Bank (34,209), Absa (27,085), and then Nedbank (25,477). This equates to 125,571 employees.

Rupert’s 115,637 is also just over 44,000 jobs short of the largest private sector employer in South Africa, Shoprite.

The Shoprite Group currently employs roughly 160,000 people in South Africa.

It must be noted that Richemont’s latest report does not specify how many of the 37,117 jobs are South African-based.

The table below breaks down Rupert’s biggest companies and the number of people they employ within their South African operations.

Charity work

Johann Rupert and his family are widely recognised for their generous philanthropic endeavours, particularly in education, environmental conservation, and community development in South Africa.

The Ruperts have established a notable legacy of supporting organisations such as the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, the SA College for Tourism, and Ikamva Labantu.

The Rupert Education Foundation is deeply committed to implementing a diverse range of educational development programs designed to empower and uplift the children and youth of South Africa.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that Johann Rupert contributes all the compensation he receives as a chairman or board member at various companies to benefit multiple charitable causes.

A project Johann Rupert and his wife are particularly passionate about is giving poor communities land and houses.

The Rupert family has sponsored thousands of title deeds in the Western Cape, including Stellenbosch and Graaf Reinet.

They support the Khaya Lam initiative, which helps underprivileged South Africans get title deeds for their houses.

The Free Market Foundation and First National Bank (FNB) launched the Khaya Lam Land Reform Project to give title deeds and create wealth in poor communities.

The project’s mission is to assist communities in converting their apartheid-era leasehold titles to freehold titles.

The Rupert family funded housing and land projects in the Western and Eastern Cape and the Free State.

Through the Khaya Lam initiative, they have pledged over 10,000 titles, transforming families’ lives by giving them title deeds for their homes.

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