Johann Rupert: Buying 70 Luxury Islands and 5 Other Things SA's Wealthiest Man Can Do With R196bn Net Worth
South Africa's foremost billionaire businessman, Johann Rupert, has made a name for himself by accumulating an impressive net worth of R196 billion. It s widely accepted that when you have that much money in the bank, anything in the world can be yours.
PAY ATTENTION: Never miss breaking news – join Briefly News' Telegram channel!
Source: Getty Images
Sometimes it's tough to wrap your head around exactly how much R196 billion truly is. To help clarify things a little, Briefly News has compiled a list of some insane things Rupert could buy and do with his mindblowing net worth.
1. Johann Rupert can buy 577 Bugatti La Voiture Noires, the world's most expensive car
Source: Getty Images
PAY ATTENTION: Follow Briefly News on Twitter and never miss the hottest topics! Find us at @brieflyza!
One thing you can always count on rich people splurging their money on is luxury ultra-expensive cars.
Johann Rupert is no stranger to lining his garage with luxury vehicles, the rarest being the Aston Martin DB4 GT. The car fetched over R20 million at auction, making it the most valuable Aston Martin model ever.
If the billionaire tycoon truly wanted to beef up his car collection, he could buy the world's most expensive car, the Bugatti La Voiture Noire ( 'the black automobile'), 577 times over.
The supercar costs R339.5 million, but Rupert's deep pockets mean he could buy over 500. That would not be necessary or possible because only one Bugatti La Voiture Noire has ever been manufactured, making it the most exclusive supercar in the world, according to Supercar Blondie.
2. SA's richest man could buy 70 luxury private islands with his billions
Source: Getty Images
Many people dream of owning a private island as an escape from the rest of the world, but not all can make it a reality.
Although it isn't clear if Rupert has any islands in his asset portfolio, he could certainly buy multiple luxury private islands if he so desired.
To conceptualise how many islands Rupert could buy, Briefly News looked at one of the most expensive private island resorts that were on the market in 2022.
The 2099-hectare Vatuvara Private Island Resort fetched a cool R2.8 billion in April 2022. With R196 billion in the bank, Rupert could buy 70 high-end luxury islands at this price point.
The island resort came fully appointed with four islands, an aircraft, an organic farm, a solar farm, a golf course and luxurious accommodation, Elite Traveler reported.
3. Rupert can pay for at least 3.5 million SA students' tertiary education for 1 year
Source: Getty Images
Tertiary education is a hot topic in South Africa because of how expensive fees are, and the cost only seems to increase yearly.
Wits University was recently rocked by fees protests, which saw many students taking to the streets to protest against financial exclusion, New24 reported.
Now, we are by no means saying that Rupert is obligated to pay for the tertiary education of South African students, but if he were to use his net worth, he could take millions to school.
Old Mutual calculated that it would cost an average of R55 900 a year to send a graduate to university in 2023, Business Tech reported.
Dividing that figure into Rupert's net worth, Briefly News found that the billionaire tycoon could pay for 3.5 million South Africans to attend university for one year.
In a perfect world, if the average cost of tertiary education stayed the same throughout the three years it takes to obtain a degree, Rupert could fund the entire undergraduate education of about 1.2 million students.
According to the National Student Finacial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), over one million students applied for financial aid to study in tertiary institutions in 2023.
4. Rupert could have wiped out hunger on the African continent in 2019 and had change to spare
Another way to conceptualise how vast Johann Rupert's net worth is would be to compare it to the cost of ending the hunger crisis on the African continent.
This type of comparison is not as foolproof as the others, as there are conflicting reports on how much eradicating hunger in Africa would cost.
According to an article published by the Guardian in 2019, it would cost R90.4 billion to eliminate hunger and malnutrition on the continent altogether.
If this estimate was correct, Rupert's billions could have dealt with the hunger crises and the billionaire would still have approximately R106 billion to spare.
It should be noted that the R90.4 billion is not based on humanitarian aid, which has failed to truly address the crisis, but on public-public investments in local food projects.
5. The billionaire tycoon could build at least 1.4 million RDP houses for South Africa's poor
Source: Getty Images
SA's housing crisis is another metric that can be used to understand just how rich SA's wealthiest man is.
The South African government has taken great strides to provide the country's poorest families with low-cost subsidised housing through the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP).
In 2019, the government claimed it built 3.2 million RDP homes between 1994 and 2018. But the latest data indicates a national shortfall of 2.1 million homes, BBC reported.
The average cost of building a fully subsidised house differs from province to province.
Based on the 2018 figures, the Minister of Human Settlements Mmamoloko Kubayi provided in 2018, Briefly News calculated the average cost of building an RDP house in SA and came to the figure of R134 980 per house.
Rupert's vast wealth could build at least 1.4 million RDP houses, putting a sizeable dent in government's shortfall.
6. Rupert could bankroll most of SA's National Health Insurance (NHI) Fund
South Africa's National Health Insurance Bill has made waves since the ruling African National Congress first brought it to the table.
The bill that would create the NHI Fund would completely overhaul SA's healthcare system, with at least 20% of South Africans excluded from it.
In 2019, Reuters reported that a senior government official estimated it would cost R256 billion to implement the NHI Fund by 2022.
Now, the government has fallen short of its target, but with R196 billion to his name, Johann Rupert could bankroll 75% of the NHI Fund.
12 Most powerful and wealthiest families in South Africa in 2023
In other billionaire-related stories, Briefly News reported that South Africa's economy is known for being one of the most vibrant in Africa. The country is home to numerous companies operating in wide-ranging industries.
As one might expect in such an economy, various individuals and families have amassed huge fortunes and become pretty influential as a result.
Which are the wealthiest and most powerful families in South Africa today?
PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!
Source: Briefly News
