Adidas share price slump costs Egypt's richest man $300 million

Billionaire businessman Nassef Sawiris, who ranks as the richest man in Egypt, has seen his net worth fall by $300 million over the past week, according to data tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Sawiris, who owns a significant stake in sportswear giant Adidas, has suffered a slump in his net worth due to a decline in the market value of his six-percent stake.

Since May 8 to 15, his net worth has declined by $300 million from $7.35 billion to $7.05 billion.

Investors sold off their stakes in Adidas following the group’s first-quarter earnings report, which saw the company report a net loss of €39 million ($43 million) compared to a profit of €482 million ($531.2 million) during the same period last year.

Adidas’s first-quarter results were primarily impacted by the termination of its partnership with Kanye West’s Yeezy brand, resulting in lost revenue of around €400 million ($441.56 million).

The fallout with West hurt sales in North America, Greater China, and the EMEA region. As a result, the sportswear company’s share price has dropped to $89.59 from $93.74 a week ago.

Despite the recent slump in his net worth, Sawiris remains one of the few African billionaires who have enjoyed a significant bump in their net worth since the start of the year.

According to data tracked by Billionaires.Africa, his net worth is up by $27.8 million this year, cementing his status as one of the few African billionaires with a net worth of more than $7 billion.

Sawiris’ most valuable asset remains his six-percent stake in Adidas, which is presently worth $2.2 billion. He also holds a 39-percent stake in the publicly traded fertilizer group OCI, which was worth $1.99 billion at the time of drafting this report.

Investors’ reaction to Adidas’s first-quarter results has been significant, impacting both the company’s share price and Sawiris’s net worth.

However, Sawiris remains the richest man in Egypt and the Arab world thanks to his stake in Adidas, one of the world’s leading sportswear brands.