Thursday, February 13, 2025

January 20, 2025

2024 Sees Wealth Surge And Global Rankings Rise For South Africa’s Billionaires

According to Forbes’ real-time tracking, South Africa’s top six billionaires bagged a combined $5.8 billion (R108.8 billion) in 2024.

[Image: The Conduit]

2024 was a big year for South Africa’s richest folks, with every single one of the country’s billionaires on the Forbes list seeing their bank balances grow and their global rankings climb.

According to Forbes’ real-time tracking, South Africa’s top six billionaires bagged a combined $5.8 billion (R108.8 billion) in 2024.

Sounds like a lot, right? Well, it’s just a small chunk of their collective net worth, which is now sitting pretty at $31.1 billion (R583.29 billion).

Just a moment to let that sink in and do something with your raging jealousy.

So, who’s leading the pack? Luxury tycoon Johann Rupert, ex-diamond boss Nicky Oppenheimer, media mogul Koos Bekker, mining magnate Patrice Motsepe, Capitec’s Michiel le Roux, and retail giant Christoffel Wiese are the big players heading into 2025.

Rupert still holds the crown as South Africa’s richest, sitting pretty with $12.8 billion (R239.7 billion), thanks to his empire that spans luxury brands like Cartier, Dunhill, and Mont Blanc through his company Richemont. He’s also the chairman of Remgro, a major investor in healthcare, food, sports, and media.

Thanks to his businesses, Rupert jumped a solid 23 spots on the world rankings and remains the only South African in the top 200 wealthiest people globally in 2025.

Nicky Oppenheimer, the former diamond mogul, also made moves, boosting his fortune by $1.2 billion and rising 12 spots to land at 270th in the world.

Patrice Motsepe, Africa’s first black billionaire, had the smallest gain, pulling in a cool $300 million. But even so, it’s still a hefty increase.

Koos Bekker, Michiel le Roux, and Christoffel Wiese all saw their net worth rise sharply, each jumping nearly 500 places in the global billionaire rankings. Safe to say, these moguls are making serious waves!

Here’s a comprehensive table of their net worths from last year to this year, courtesy of BusinessTech:

Image: BusinessTech

Globally, Elon Musk is starting 2025 on top of the world—literally. Yep, he’s still the richest person around, sitting on a whopping $426.8 billion (R7.98 trillion), mostly thanks to Tesla and SpaceX.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos takes the runner-up spot, with $234.6 billion (R4.4 trillion) to his name, holding onto that silver medal in the billionaire race.

And then there’s Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Meta, claiming third place with $211.3 billion (R3.95 trillion) in the bank.

No point wondering why they’re all Trump’s new BFFs.

[Source: BusinessTech]