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Three weeks after recording a net worth loss of $620 million due to a broad-based stock market sell-off, Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris’ wealth has increased by $370 million, bringing his total net worth back above $6.5 billion.
According to data tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Sawiris’ net worth has risen by $370 million in the past 21 days, from $6.17 billion on Oct. 1 to $6.54 billion at the time of writing this report.
The wealth surge propelled him to the position of the world’s 315th richest man, surpassing Mexican billionaire Juan Beckmann Vidal and Teh Hong Piow, the founder of Public Bank, Malaysia’s third-largest bank, who are now ranked 316th and 317th, respectively.
Sawiris, who ranks as Egypt’s richest man, ahead of his brother, Naguib, who is worth $3.4 billion, serves on the boards of Adidas and OCI N.V., a global nitrogen product manufacturer and distributor.
The majority of his fortune stems from his 38.8-percent stake in the Netherlands-based OCI N.V. and his six-percent stake in German sportswear manufacturer Adidas, which is presently worth $1.34 billion at the time of writing.
While the market value of his Adidas stake continues to fall, the increase in his net worth can be attributed to the impressive performance of his stake in OCI N.V., which has risen by more than 79 percent since the start of the year.
Shares in the Netherlands-based nitrogen product manufacturer and distributor increased by more than 11 percent in less than a month, from €38.2 ($37.28) on Sept. 21 to €42.16 ($41.15) at the time of writing.
In line with its revenue and earnings diversification strategy, OCI N.V. announced plans in September to begin construction of a world-scale 1.1-million-tonne-per-year blue ammonia project in Beaumont, Texas.
The project, according to OCI N.V., is well underway; production is expected to start in the first quarter of 2025, and detailed engineering and procurement work has already started this year.
The group claims that the blue ammonia plant completes OCI N.V.’s Rotterdam ammonia throughput expansion, whose capacity will later double to 2.2 million tonnes annually.
