South Africa’s second-richest man Nicky Oppenheimer, has seen his net worth increase by $825 million since the start of the year, with his personal wealth surpassing $8.7 billion. The boost to his net worth was driven by a surge in the valuation of his well-diversified investment portfolio.
The South African billionaire, who sold his family’s 40-percent stake in De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer, to mining company Anglo-American in 2012, is one of a handful of African billionaires whose fortunes have grown significantly since the year began.
His net worth was $7.95 billion at the start of this year, with the majority of his wealth linked to private equity investments in Africa, Asia, the United States, and Europe, through London-based Stockdale Street and Johannesburg-based Tana Africa Capital.
According to research conducted by Billionaires.Africa, his net worth has increased by double digits since Jan. 1, rising from $7.95 billion to $8.78 billion as of the time of writing, June 3.
This equates to an $825-million increase in the billionaire’s net worth and an average gain of $5.35 million per day since the beginning of the year.
The $825 million in wealth gains can be attributed to his well-diversified investment portfolio managed by Stockdale Street and Tana Africa Capital.
The leading billionaire businessman also owns a 3.37-percent stake in IDH, a consumer healthcare company with subsidiaries in Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, and Nigeria.
The increase in his net worth solidifies his position as one of Africa’s richest men, as he vies to reclaim his title as South Africa’s richest man after losing out to fellow billionaire Johann Rupert.
In recent times, Tana Africa Capital, a private equity firm linked to the billionaire, joined LeapFrog Investments in a $110-million investment in Interswitch, an integrated payment and transaction company led by Nigerian tech tycoon Mitchell Elegbe.
Interswitch CEO Elegbe said in a statement that the company was delighted to welcome LeapFrog and Tana as the integrated payment and transaction company works to advance the future of the African payments landscape.
