The 6 men who earned R266 million a day in 2024
Despite the turbulent start to 2024, all of the country’s billionaires listed by Forbes have increased their net worth in the first three quarters of the year – though it’s been a rollercoaster ride for South Africa’s number one.
According to Forbes’ real-time tracking of billionaires, the country’s six richest businessmen have gained a combined $4.1 billion (R71 billion) since the start of the year – or R266 million a day, over the 267 days since 1 January.
The current collective net worth of South Africa’s dollar billionaires is estimated to be $29.4 billion (R510 billion).
After the first nine months of 2024, luxury goods mogul Johann Rupert, former diamond magnate Nicky Oppenheimer, media mogul Koos Bekker, mining boss Patrice Motsepe, Capitec founder Michiel le Roux, and consumer retail businessman Chrstoffel Wiese remain the wealthiest South Africans.
Rupert maintains his title as the richest South African and still ranks as the second-richest man on the continent as far as Forbes is concerned.
The billionaire recently stole the crown to become the richest person in Africa, ahead of Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, on the Bloomberg Billionaire’s index, which has different tracking criteria.
Rupert’s net worth of $10.3 billion (R179 billion) is thanks to his wide array of investments.
He is the chairman of Richemont, a Swiss-based luxury goods holding company that owns Cartier, Dunhill, and Mont Blanc, where he maintains 51% voting power.
He is also the chairman of Stellenbosch-based investment holding company Remgro, which invests in healthcare, food, sports, and media. He recently scored an additional R123 million from his shareholding in Remgro when it published its financial results earlier in September,
While Rupert is holding onto his crown as the richest man in South Africa, the billionaire has dropped out of the top 200 wealthiest people in the world, slipping from 195th in January and 173rd in the middle of the year to 237th.
He’s also had a tough quarter. In June, his net worth was sitting at $11.7 billion – meaning he has lost $1.4 billion in the last three months.
Rupert is the only South African billionaire to slip in the overall rankings since January.
Former diamond magnate Nicky Oppenheimer is ranked second, and has seen the biggest growth in his net worth, adding $1.2 billion since the start of the year.
Patrice Motsepe, broke the $3 billion in June and has managed to climb slightly higher in the rankings.
According to Billionaires Africa, this is mainly due to TymeBank’s rapid gains in the markets of South Africa and the Philippines.
Naspers chairman Bekker, Capitec founder le Roux, and retail tycoon Wiese all saw considerable gains in their net worth and world billionaire ranking positions, adding a collective $2 billion to their net worth.
South Africans on Forbes’ list
| Jan-24 | Sep-24 | Billionaire | Jan-24 | Sep-24 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 195 | 237 | Johann Rupert | $10.1 billion | $10.3 billion (R179 billion) | +$0.2 billion (+R3.5 billion) |
| 282 | 271 | Nicky Oppenheimer | $8.3 billion | $9.5 billion (R165 billion) | +$1.2 billion (+R21 billion) |
| 1292 | 1115 | Patrice Motsepe | $2.4 billion | $3.1 billion (R54 billion) | +$0.7 billion (+R12 billion) |
| 1341 | 1161 | Koos Bekker | $2.3 billion | $3.0 billion (R52 billion) | +$0.7 billion (+R12 billion) |
| 2347 | 1798 | Michiel le Roux | $1.2 billion | $1.9 billion (R33 billion) | +$0.7 billion (+R12 billion) |
| 2494 | 2015 | Christoffel Wiese | $1.0 billion | $1.6 billion (R28 billion) | +$0.6 billion (+R10 billion) |
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