The richest people in South Africa at the start of 2025
2024 was a notable year for some of South Africa’s richest people, with all of the country’s billionaires listed by Forbes increasing their net worth and gaining in the world rankings.
According to Forbes’ real-time tracking of billionaires, the country’s six richest gained an estimated combined total of $5.8 billion (R108.8 billion) of their net worth. However, this may be a drop in the ocean as their current collective net worth is estimated to be sitting at a cool $31.1 billion (R583.29 billion).
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 are the wealthiest South Africans kicking off 2025.
Rupert maintains his title as the richest South African and is the second richest person in Africa (behind Aliko Dangote of Nigeria). His net worth of $12.8 billion (R239.7 billion) is thanks to his wide array of investments.
Rupert is the chairman of Richemont, a Swiss-based luxury goods holding company that owns Cartier, Dunhill, and Mont Blanc, where he owns 10.18% of the company and maintains 51% voting power.
Richemont’s market cap is R17.58 trillion, and he is also the chairman of Stellenbosch-based investment holding company Remgro, which invests in healthcare, food, sports, and media.
Thanks to his companies, Rupert has jumped 23 spots on the world rankings and remains the only South African to be part of the top 200 wealthiest individuals in the world in 2025.
Former diamond magnate Nicky Oppenheimer was also able to stay within the world’s wealthiest 300, gaining over 12 spots to 270 in the world as a result of his estimated $1.2 billion increase in his net worth.
Africa’s first black billionaire, Motsepe, had the smallest increase in net worth amongst South African billionaires, gaining only $300 million.
Naspers chairman Bekker, Capitec founder le Roux, and retail giant Wiese all saw considerable gains in their net worth and world billionaire ranking positions, jumping almost 500 spots each on the rankings.
South Africans on Forbes’ list
| Jan-24 | Jan-25 | Billionaire | Jan-24 net worth | Jan-25 net worth | Change |
| 195 | 172 | Johann Rupert | $10.1 billion | $12.8 billion | +$2.7 billion |
| 282 | 270 | Nicky Oppenheimer | $8.3 billion | $9.5 billion | +$1.2 billion |
| 1341 | 1208 | Koos Bekker | $2.3 billion | $2.8 billion | +$0.5 billion |
| 1292 | 1234 | Patrice Motsepe | $2.4 billion | $2.7 billion | +$0.3 billion |
| 2347 | 1883 | Michiel le Roux | $1.2 billion | $1.7 billion | +$0.5 billion |
| 2494 | 1990 | Christoffel Wiese | $1.0 billion | $1.6 billion | +$0.6 billion |
Interestingly, South Africa is set to get another billionaire—Zak Calisto.
Calisto, founder and chief executive officer of fleet management and telematics multinational Karooooo, is geared up to be South Africa’s newest dollar billionaire, with his current direct holdings in the group approaching the mark and his beneficial ownership already valued over $1.1 billion.
South African-born Elon Musk kicks off 2025 as the richest person in the world, sporting a net worth of $426.8 billion (R7.98 trillion), mainly thanks to his income from Tesla and SpaceX.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, with a $234.6 billion (R4.4 trillion) net worth, receives the global billionaires silver medal.
The co-founder of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, is third, with a net worth of $211.3 billion (R3.95 trillion).
The co-founder of software giant Oracle, Larry Ellison, and France’s Bernard Arnault, the chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, complete the world’s top five.
Read: The man who will take over the R209 billion Rupert empire
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