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As publicly-traded companies grapple with the recent valuation challenge, two of South Africa’s wealthiest billionaires, Johann Rupert and Nicky Oppenheimer, have seen $3.58 billion of their net worth wiped out since the start of the year due to a sustained decline in the market value of their assets.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which tracks the fortunes of the world’s 500 richest people, Rupert’s net worth has dropped by a staggering 29.2 percent or $3.48 billion in monetary terms since the year began, falling from $11.9 billion on Jan. 1 to $8.46 billion at the time of drafting this report.
While Oppenheimer’s net worth has decreased by $100 million, or 1.3 percent, since the beginning of the year from $7.95 billion on Jan. 1 to $7.85 billion as of this writing.
The combined net worth of the two South African billionaires has dropped from $19.85 billion at the beginning of the year to $16.31 billion, a decrease of $3.58 billion.
Rupert and Oppenheimer remain the two wealthiest billionaires in South Africa despite a decline in their net worth this year. They both continue to outpace other billionaires like Koos Bekker, Christo Wiese, Patrice Motsepe, and Michiel Le Roux in terms of personal wealth.
The decline in Rupert’s net worth can be linked to the year-to-date performance of his 9.14-percent stake in Richemont, a Swiss luxury goods holding company that owns a diverse portfolio of premium brands including Chloe, Dunhill, Alaa, Cartier, and Delvaux.
So far this year, shares in the luxury goods holding company have fallen by more than 25 percent, as investors continued to sell their positions in the company after benefiting from a 74-percent increase in its shares the previous year.
On the other hand, the $100-million drop in Oppenheimer’s net worth since the beginning of the year can be attributed to a decline in the valuation of his varied private equity investment portfolio through London-based Stockdale Street and Johannesburg-based Tana Africa Capital.
