Nathan “Natie” Kirsh, a well-known Swazi businessman and one of the wealthiest billionaires of African descent, saw his net worth slump by $280 million in April as the value of his well-diversified investment declined in value.
Kirsh, who derives the majority of his fortune from a 75-percent stake in Jetro Holdings, a New York-based company that manages two wholesale grocery businesses in the United States – Jetro Cash & Carry and Restaurant Depot – has seen his fortune fall below $8.3 billion in recent times.
Jetro and Restaurant Depot operate as sister companies, and their combined value is calculated using the average enterprise value-to-sales multiple of four publicly traded peer companies, Costco Wholesale, Kroger, Metro, and Loblaw Companies, according to Bloomberg.
His net worth fell from $8.53 billion on April 1 to $8.25 billion at the time of writing this report. The $250-million drop in his net worth can be attributed to a decrease in the valuation of his majority stake in Jetro Holdings, a company he controls through his closely held conglomerate, Kirsh Group.
Despite a drop in his net worth in April, Natie Kirsh remains the richest man in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and one of Africa’s richest billionaires, with a fortune of more than $8.2 billion at the time of writing.
His net worth has dropped by $23 million since the beginning of 2022, from $8.27 billion on Jan. 1 to $8.25 billion at the end of April.
In addition to his stake in Jetro Holdings, Kirsh owns 54 percent of Sydney-based Abacus Property Group, a publicly-traded real estate investment trust. The billionaire also owns property on four continents, including London’s first office skyscraper, Tower 42, and Perth, Australia’s Jandakot Airport.
The market value of Tower 42, one of London’s tallest landmark skyscrapers, is $373 million at the time of writing.