Johann Rupert now South Africa’s richest man, one week after losing spot to Nicky Oppenheimer

South African billionaire Johann Rupert has reclaimed his position as South Africa’s richest man from fellow billionaire businessman Nicky Oppenheimer.

His net worth surpassing $9 billion.

Rupert’s return to the top spot as South Africa’s richest man comes nearly a week after he was dethroned by Oppenheimer, a leading billionaire who sold his family’s 40-percent stake in De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer, to Anglo-American in 2012.

Rupert, who is the chairman of Compagnie Financiere Richemont, a Swiss luxury goods holding company, is now ranked 214th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, ahead of Oppenheimer, who is worth $8.78 billion.

Rupert’s net worth has fallen by $2.24 billion since the start of the year, from $11.9 billion on Jan. 1 to $9.71 billion at the time of writing.

The $2.24-billion drop in his fortune this year can be attributed to the poor performance of his Richemont stake, which has lost more than 25 percent of its value since the year began.

According to the company’s recently released annual results, Richemont’s profit increased by 61 percent from €1.289 billion ($1.36 billion) in 2021 to €2.08 billion ($2.2 billion) in 2022. This is more than double the amount that it earned in 2020.

Increased inflationary pressures and repeated temporary store closures due to health-protection measures, according to management, were offset by relatively improved economies up until February 2022, with double-digit growth in all Maisons, channels, and regions.

The group’s sales reached an all-time high of €19.2 billion ($20.32 billion) during the fiscal year under review, a 46-percent increase over last year’s €13.14 billion ($13.9 billion), as sales in the Americas increased by double digits, while sales in the Asia Pacific and mainland China increased by 32 percent and 20 percent, respectively, compared to the previous year.