South Africa’s Johann Rupert has displaced the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, to become the richest man in Africa.
Dangote, who had maintained the top position for several years, saw his wealth drop by $1.7 billion year-to-date in the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, on Wednesday as Rupert’s wealth increased by $1.87bn year-to-date.
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The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world’s richest people.
The 74-year-old South African controls the world’s largest luxury watchmaker, Cie Financiere Richemont, through a family trust. The Bellevue, Switzerland-based company’s brands include Jaeger-LeCoultre and Cartier.
His other holdings include Remgro, a Stellenbosch, South Africa-based investment vehicle with stakes in more than 30 companies.
However, for Dangote, the majority of his fortune is derived from his 86% stake in publicly traded Dangote Cement.
He holds the shares in the company directly and through his conglomerate, Dangote Industries.
Dangote’s other publicly-traded assets include stakes in Dangote Sugar, Nascon Allied Industries and United Bank for Africa.
His investments range from food manufacturing to fertiliser, oil and other industries.
He also owns the Dangote Refinery — a 650,000 barrels per day integrated refinery based in Lagos State.
Other African billionaires in the top five include Nicky Oppenheimer (South Africa) in the third place with $11.3bn net worth; Nassef Sawiris (Egypt) with $9.37bn, and Natie Kirsh (South Africa) with $9.14bn.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the top 10 richest men in the world are:
1- Elon Musk (United States) — $236bn
2- Bernard Arnault (France) — $198bn
3- Jeff Bezos (United States) — $197bn
4- Mark Zuckerberg (United States) — $185bn
5- Bill Gates (United States) — $160bn
6- Larry Ellison (United States) — $153bn
7- Larry Page (United States) — $149bn
8- Warren Buffett (United States) — $145bn
9- Steve Ballmer (United States) — $144bn
10- Sergey Brin (United States) — $140bn
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
