By Our Reporter
South Africa’s Johann Rupert has overtaken Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the President of Dangote conglomerate, to become the richest man in Africa, according to the latest report from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Nigerian businessman and oil and Gas magnate who had been ahead to of the chart for several years and saw his wealth come down by $1.7 billion year-to-date in the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, on Wednesday, just as Rupert’s fortune increased by $1.87bn in a year-to-date.
The 74-year-old South African billionaire 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.
Rupert’s other holdings include Remgro, a Stellenbosch, South Africa-based investment vehicle with stakes in more than 30 companies.
Dangote, on the other hand draw the majority of his fortune from his 86% stake in publicly traded Dangote Cement.
He holds the shares in the company directly and through his conglomerate, Dangote group.
Dangote Sugar, Nascon Allied Industries and United Bank for Africa are some of the stakes in Dangote’s other publicly-traded assets
Aliko Dangote’s investments include food manufacturing to fertiliser, oil and other industries.
This is in addition to Dangote Refinery — a 650,000 barrels per day integrated refinery based in Lekki free trade zone, 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 are listed in this order below:
Elon Musk (United States) — $236bn
Bernard Arnault (France) — $198bn
Jeff Bezos (United States) — $197bn
Mark Zuckerberg (United States) — $185bn
Bill Gates (United States) — $160bn
Larry Ellison (United States) — $153bn
Larry Page (United States) — $149bn
Warren Buffett (United States) — $145bn
Steve Ballmer (United States) — $144bn
Sergey Brin (United States) — $140bn
------------------------
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world’s richest people.About The Author
