6 Richest South Africans at the Start of 2024, From Johann Rupert to Michiel le Roux

• The financial news site Forbes has begun their Real-Time Billionaire List for 2024 with six South Africans and their wealth recorded
• Sitting in the top three spots in SA are Johann Rupert, Nicky Oppenheimer and Patrice Motsepe, and all six together are worth $25.3 billion
• The tracker keeps the up-to-date status of their wealth but also shows the growth and shortfall in their net worth

Many of the South African billionaires on the list have seen significant shifts in their wealth during 2023. This status of their wealth reflects the end of 11 January 2024.

These are the six richest billionaires as of the start of 2024, according to the Forbes real-time billionaire tracker:

#1 Johann Rupert and family

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Johann Rupert is the chairman of Swiss luxury goods firm Compagnie Financiere Richemont, best known for Dunhill, Montblanc, and Cartier. The company was formed in 1998 as an offshoot of his previous venture, Rembrandt Group Limited. As of 2024, Rupert's net worth is $10 billion, down from $11.1 billion at the end of 2023.

#2 Nicky Oppenheimer and family

Nicky Oppenheimer inherited the DeBeers Diamond fortune but sold his share for $5.1 billion in 2012. He soon placed his fortune in Fireblade Aviation in Johannesburg. His wealth currently stands at $9.4 billion, which is a $1 billion increase since 2023

#3 Patrice Motsepe

Patrice Motsepe is the founder and chairman of African Rainbow Minerals and is the first black African billionaire on the Forbes list. His net worth stands at $2.7 billion.

#4 Koos Bekker

Koos Bekker is the founder of South African newspaper publisher Naspers. He stepped down as CEO and is now the chairman of the company with a net worth of $2.6 billion.

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#5 Christoffel Wiese

Christoffel Wiese is the founder of Pepkor. His wealth had taken a few dips over the years. Pepkor was acquired by Steinhoff International for over $5 billion, with him as chairman. But he lost his billionaire status after he left due to disclosed accounting irregularities. He soon regained his status after settling with Steinhoff in cash and stock. His net worth currently stands at $1.2 billion.

#6 Michiel Le Roux

Le Roux founded Capitec Bank, which opened its doors in 2001. The bank is on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. He owns approximately 9% of the business, which leaves his wealth at $1.2 billion.

Top 17 South African millionaires in 2024

In a previously published Briefly New article, we looked at the top 17 millionaires in South Africa for 2024.

There are many self-made South African millionaires in 2024. Others were born into wealthy families and have invested in industries that pay well.

Source: Briefly News