See billionaire who knocks off Dangote as new Africa’s richest man
Nigerian billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote, has dropped as Africa’s richest man.
Forbes Magazine in its new report, revealed South African Johann Rupert as the new Africa’s richest man.
Rupert’s net worth is currently $12 billion according to Forbes Real-time Global Billionaires Ranking, while Dangote trails behind him with a net worth of $10.8 billion as of Friday June 16.
Dangote’s net worth was said to have dropped due to recent operational charges on the foreign exchange market carried out by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which led to the depreciation of the Naira against the US dollar.
Consequently, Forbes and Bloomberg had to recalculate the fortunes of all Nigerian billionaires leading to the significant drop in the wealth of Dangote, Abdul Samad Rabiu, the founder of BUA cement, and Mike Adenuga, the Chairman of telecommunications giant Globacom Limited.
Meanwhile, with the expected kick-off of the $20 billion Dangote refinery commissioned last month, Aliko Dangote is expected to bounce back.
Who is Johann Rupert?
Johann Peter Rupert (born 1 June 1950) is a South African billionaire businessman, who is the eldest son of business tycoon Anton Rupert and his wife Huberte.
He is the chairman of the Swiss-based luxury-goods company Richemont and the South Africa-based company Remgro. Since April 2010, he has been the CEO of Compagnie Financiere Richemont.
Rupert and family were ranked second-richest in South Africa on the 2021 Forbes list, with an estimated net worth of US$7.1 billion.
Personal life
Rupert grew up in Stellenbosch, where he attended Paul Roos Gymnasium and the University of Stellenbosch, studying economics and company law. He dropped out of the university to pursue a career in business, however, in 2004, the university awarded him an honorary doctorate in Economics.
In 2008, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Described as “reclusive” by the Financial Times and Barron’s, Rupert rarely gives interviews and shuns public events. He’s nicknamed “Rupert the Bear”.
Rupert has declared his sympathy for and belief in the idea of a universal basic income.
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