South African billionaire Christo Wiese has recorded a significant bump in his net worth in the first 16 days of 2023, as the market value of his stake in Shoprite Holdings increased by more than $67 million due to a recent rise in the company’s share price on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
Shoprite Holdings Limited is Africa’s largest retailer and the leading food retailer in South Africa. The corporation employs over 142,000 people across 2,989 locations on the African continent.
Wiese, a South African billionaire who played a key role in Shoprite’s growth, owns 11.63 percent of the company, which is valued at more than $900 million. In addition to his common stock, the tycoon owns 305.6 million non-convertible, non-participating, no-par value deferred shares, accounting for 32.2 percent of Shoprite’s voting rights.
The retailer’s shares have seen a significant increase of 8 percent since the beginning of the year. The shares have risen from R226 ($13.49) to R243.96 ($14.56), reflecting the positive market performance as the JSE hit an all-time high on Monday, driven by optimism about China reopening its borders and expectations of a slower pace of interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The recent increase in Shoprite’s shares has led to a boost in the market value of the stake held by Wiese, the leading retailer’s largest individual shareholder, from R14.26 billion ($851.16 million) on January 1 to R15.4 billion ($918.8 million) at the time of this report.
This translates to a R1.13 billion ($67.64 million) gain for the South African billionaire in just 15 days. This increase in the market value of his stake cements his position as one of the wealthiest investors on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
The recent gain comes after he received $13.36 million in dividends from the South African retailer in 2022. As per the financial results, Shoprite’s profit increased by 21.5 percent from R4.86 billion ($275.4 million) in 2021 to R5.73 billion ($334 million) in 2022 due to a consistent increase in merchandise sales.
