Nathan “Natie” Kirsh, a renowned Swazi businessman and one of the wealthiest billionaires of African-descent, has seen his net worth plummet by several millions of dollars in the past three days due to a drop in the valuation of his New York-based conglomerate, Jetro Holdings.
Kirsh, the 278th richest man in the world and the richest person in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), has seen his net worth fall by $310 million or 3.68 percent in the previous three days, according to figures compiled by Billionaires.Africa.
His fortune, which is presently estimated at $8.11 billion as of press time on March 13, is much lower than his net worth at the start of business this month.
The decrease in his net worth has wiped earlier year-to-date gains, bringing his year-to-date wealth losses to $163 million.
His net worth has dropped from $8.42 billion at the start of business on March 10 to $8.11 billion at the time of writing this report as a result of the reduction in the valuation of his interest in Jetro Holdings.
This resulted in a total loss of $310 million for the wealthy businessman, who derived the majority of his wealth from Kirsh Group, a family-owned conglomerate with private equity assets in Africa, Asia, the United States and Europe.
Kirsh Group owns a 75-percent stake in Jetro Holdings, giving the Swazi billionaire an indirect involvement in the consumer products industry.
Jetro Holdings, a well-known U.S. consumer products company, owns and operates Jetro Cash & Carry and Restaurant Depot locations in more than 30 states across the United States.
In addition, Kirsh controls a majority 54-percent stake in Abacus Property Group, a Sydney-based real estate investment trust. He has also accumulated a collection of real estate assets to help hedge against inflation.
His real estate portfolio covers four continents, including London’s first office tower, Tower 42, and Perth, Australia’s Jandakot Airport.
