South Africa’s diamond billionaire – worth R170 billion
Nicky Oppenheimer was born into one of South Africa’s most formidable diamond-mining families, but when hard times hit, he had to leave the family business.
Despite being the second-richest man in South Africa with a net worth of $9.5 billion (R171 billion) and being part of one of the country’s most influential families, Oppenheimer is incredibly reserved and humble.
Nicholas Frank Oppenheimer was born in 1945 in Johannesburg into a diamond dynasty.
His grandfather, Ernest, was the first generation of the family to chair the De Beers diamond mining company in South Africa, founded by Cecil Rhodes in 1888.
At 21, Ernest, the son of a German cigar merchant, was sent by a London trading company to South Africa to buy diamonds – a trade he quickly mastered.
By 30, he had become the mayor of the diamond town of Kimberley.
“I always remember him as a very quiet guy. I remember him as the sort of guy that if you bumped into him, you rebounded,” Oppenheimer said in an interview with Forbes Africa.
Oppenheimer’s father, Harry, became one of the world’s wealthiest people, acting as the chairman of Anglo American for 25 years and De Beers Consolidated Mines for 27 years.
Oppenheimer thought that although his father may not have been as tough of a businessman as his grandfather, he always knew how to navigate the industry.
“I always knew that my father was there and I could discuss business matters with him, which gave you a head start. It never got you to the finishing line, so that was whether you could deliver or not,” he told Forbes Africa.
“He taught me business went on, and it was an assessment of risk, and to be a successful businessman, you have to take risks. There is no good being risk-averse; then you go nowhere.”
Nicky Oppenheimer received his education in Britain, where he attended Harrow. He then studied politics, philosophy, and economics at Christ Church College Oxford, where he earned his Masters.
“I am of an age where going to university was the last holiday of your life, and I thought that was absolutely fantastic,” he explained to Forbes Africa.
“Politics, philosophy and economics was a good sort of all-round degree. I thought it was a fantastic, wonderful life. I didn’t work very hard I got a third-class degree at the end of it all. But I had a lot of fun.”
When Nicky Oppenheimer came back to South Africa, he was called in for national service.
Forbes Africa reported that, despite having a degree, which typically fast-tracked him to becoming an officer, the military struggled to find a suitable role for Oppenheimer.
However, he had no useful skills for the army, so he was assigned to a large parking lot near Pretoria.
His job involved checking in vehicles, ensuring they had four tyres and two headlights, and signing off on them. Reflecting on the experience, he joked that his time in the army primarily taught him how to sign his name quickly.
Afterwards, the 23-year-old Oppenheimer joined the family business.
He was appointed as a director of Anglo American in 1974, became deputy chairman in 1983, and later became chairman of De Beers in 1998.
In 1984, Oppenheimer was appointed deputy chairman of the Central Selling Organisation, now known as the Diamond Trading Company.
In his position, he guided the company’s evolution from a conventional mining business into a modern, diversified enterprise.
He was key in establishing the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, designed to keep conflict diamonds out of the legitimate diamond market.
He took the company private in 2001 and resigned that same year, although he stayed on as a non-executive director until 2011.
The 2008 recession marked a significant turning point for De Beers. The company had recently opened new mines, which required substantial borrowing.
Since returns from these mines were not immediate, they had to renegotiate their debt agreements with the bank, a challenging process.
To keep the business afloat, both Anglo American and the Oppenheimer family contributed additional funds, a risky move given their predicament.
This was not the first time the family business had suffered hardships. Having been around for more than 80 years at that point, it had seen political upheavals, recessions, and two world wars.
“In my father’s lifetime, he talked about the great depression, where the situation was far more dramatic than anything I ever had to face,” Oppenheimer told Forbes Africa.
Even though the demand for diamonds was still there, people could simply no longer afford them.
“So you had to cut your cloth to suit that and wait for the times to improve. It never occurred to me that the business wouldn’t recover; there were times when you have somewhat sleepless nights,” he said.
In 2011, after 85 years, the Oppenheimers voted to sell their 40% stake in De Beers, the business that built the family fortune, for an estimated $5.1 billion (today, R91.7 billion).
At the time, De Beers’s ownership structure was shared between the family, Anglo American, and the Botswana government. Oppenheimer knew that this arrangement was unstable, and eventually, something would have to change.
He explained that Anglo had two choices: to opt out of the business completely or become much more serious about it. It chose the second option.
When they made a fair and reasonable offer, the Oppenheimers accepted it.
This decision was not made easily, though. On one side, he had spent his entire life in the business; on the other, he had to consider the needs of his family – his sister, her children, and his own.
“We ended up in a situation where my heart made me say ‘look we should stay with De Beers’ but my head knew absolutely clear that this was the right deal to do,” he told Forbes Africa.
When the family sold their stake, Oppenheimer also retired as De Beers chairman.
“Anglo American has been in the psyche of every member of my family since the company was founded nearly a century ago,” he said.
“During my 40 years with Anglo, first as an employee and then as a director, I have been lucky enough to participate in many transformational decisions.”
“However, there comes a time when it is right to stand aside and allow others to carry the baton. For me, that time is now.”
Other ventures have occupied Oppenheimer’s time since. This includes founding Tana Africa Capital with Temasek in 2011 and Fireblade Aviation, which operates chartered flights, in 2014.
He is passionate about conservation, and owns owns at least 720 square miles of conservation land across South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
While the baton has since been passed to his son, Jonathan Oppenheimer, he is still widely respected for his business acumen and philanthropic efforts.
- By Kirsten Minnaar
- This article was first published in Daily Investor and has been republished with permission. Read the original here.
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