New dollar billionaires in South Africa

There are 2,325 dollar billionaires in the world, according to the Billionaire Census compiled by Wealth-X – and 10 of them are from South Africa.

At last count on Forbes in March, SA had eight dollar billionaires.

Potential new candidates to the South African billionaires club could include the likes of vice president, Cyril Ramaphonsa, with Forbes listing his wealth at $700,000 as of Novemeber 2013.

Raymond Ackerman, who founded the Pick n Pay Group is listed with a net worth of $500 million at the end of 2013, while Gerrit Thomas Ferreira, co-founder of RMB is listed as having $475 million

PSG founder, Jannie Mouton, known as the “Boere Buffett”, is also worth $475 million, while Adrian Gore, founder of Discovery is worth $460 million, Forbes said.

The Wealth-X billionaire census report assesses all asset holdings – including privately and publicly held businesses and investible assets – of the world’s wealthiest people.

In 2014, the dollar billionaire population increased by 7.1% from 2,170 individuals in 2013 to 2,325. These super wealthy people have a total net worth of $7.3 trillion – up 12% from $6.5 trillion in 2013.

Europe accounts for the most billionaires, with 775 individuals residing in the region, followed by North America (609), Asia (560) and the Middle East (154).

Africa, with 40 billionaires – down from 42 in 2013 – is only larger that the Pacific, which has only 34 billionaires as of 2014.

Despite European billionaires exceeding North American billionaires by almost 170 individuals, the two regions are neck-on-neck in terms of wealth, with Europe’s rich individuals amassing a net worth of $2.375 trillion, versus the North America’s $2.371 trillion.

The report lists New York, USA, as the most billionaire-rich city in the world, with 103 billionaires living in the city.

This is followed by Moscow, Russia (85 billionaires), Hong Kong (82 billionaires), London, UK (72 billionaires), and Beijing, China (37 billionaires).

African billionaires

According to Wealth-X, in the past year the African continent has lost 2 billionaires, although total billionaire wealth on the continent has increased.

African billionaires are worth $114 billion, with Egypt and Nigeria hosting the most billionaires on the continent.

“Africa epitomises the mixed signals shown by emerging markets this year. Development in the region, despite its wealth of resources, has long been hampered by various socio-economic and political problems,” Wealth-X said.

“This year, the decrease in the number of billionaires in the region was primarily due to such ongoing socio-political difficulties in North Africa, but the continued growth of the billionaire population in Sub-Saharan Africa provides encouraging signs for the the region’s long-term prospects.”

South Africa’s billionaires are worth $28 billion – or just under R306 billion.

Johannesburg and Stellenbosch are the two most billionaire-dense cities in the country, being the home base for 4 billionaires each, the report said.

In March, Forbes released its annual listing of the world’s billionaires, which included eight South Africans.

Richest people in South Africa

Billionaire facts

• In 2014, the average billionaire has a net worth of $3.1 billion;
• The average age of a billionaire is 63 – only 1% of billionaires are under 35, while 93% of the world’s billionaires are older than 45 years;
• 87.7% or 2,039 billionaires are male, who have accrued their wealth primarily through self-made means (60.0%);
• 12.3% or 286 billionaires are female, who have gained their wealth primarily through inheritance (65.4%);
• 65% of all billionaires have a university degree;
• 95% of the world’s billionaires are worth between $1 billion and $10 billion;
• 46.9% of billionaire wealth is in private holdings; 28.9% in public holdings; 19.1% in cash; and 5.1% in real estate and luxury assets;
• Top billionaire industries are finance, banking and investment (19.3%); industrial (12.1%); and real estate (7.1%);
• The world’s billionaire numbers are expected to increase to as much as 3,873 individuals by 2020;

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