Faith Nyasuguta
South African businessman Johann Rupert, 73, has displaced Nigeria’s foremost billionaire, Aliko Dangote as the richest man on the continent.
Johann Rupert, whose net worth is estimated at $12 billion was named by Forbes Magazine in its Real-time global Billionaires ranking while Dangote trails behind with a net worth of $10.8 billion.
Dangote’s net worth reportedly took a massive dip due to the naira depreciation caused by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s decision to auction the dollar at a relatively lower rate than the official market price.
Rupert initially followed Dangote closely, maintaining the number two spot. However, this recent development marks a turnaround for the luxury business Tycoon, Rupert.
In the last 12 years, the 66-year-old billionaire, Dangote had held on tightly to the top spot as Africa’s richest man.
Remember, Dangote’s net worth first took a hit after the Central Bank of Nigeria decided to loosen its grip on the official exchange market. Hence, the billionaire’s worth dropped by $4.12 billion.
How did Rupert clinch Africa’s richest man status?
Rupert is currently ranked 157 on the Forbes list real-time billionaires list while Aliko Dangote trudges behind at 172.
Although Bloomberg offers varying data on Rupert as opposed to Forbes, the majority of Rupert’s earnings as a billionaire is generated from,
“Cie Financiere Richemont, a publicly traded luxury goods manufacturer and retailer, and the world’s largest luxury watchmaker”, Bloomberg Intelligence data reveals.
“7% of diversified investment firm Remgro, which he chairs, as well as 26% of Reinet, an investment holding company based in Luxembourg,” Forbe adds.
Rupert emerges as one of the first South African businessmen to have taken over the number one spot.
Earlier in 2022, Forbes said that Rupert had jumped to the number 2 spot which was a leap from the initial number 4 spot in 2021.
Forbes attributed his acceleration in 2022 to a spike in the share prices of his company.
“A more than 60% surge in the share price of his luxury goods firm Compagnie Financiere Richemont – maker of Cartier watches and Montblanc pens – pushed his fortune to $11 billion, up from $7.2 billion a year ago, making him the biggest gainer on the list.”
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