South African billionaire Ivan Glasenberg rakes in $310 million in just two weeks

South African billionaire Ivan Glasenberg has experienced a remarkable surge in his fortune over the past two weeks, thanks to the outstanding performance of his holdings in Glencore, the world’s largest commodity trader.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which tracks the assets of the world’s top 500 billionaires, Glasenberg’s net worth has soared by $310 million, rising from $7.83 billion on June 9 to an impressive $8.14 billion on June 23.

This notable increase in Glasenberg’s net worth can be directly attributed to the recent performance of his 9 percent stake in Glencore.

The company’s share price has seen a 3 percent boost in the past two weeks, leading to a surge in the market value of Glasenberg’s stake to $6.88 billion. With this substantial growth, Glasenberg solidifies his position as one of the wealthiest individuals globally.

Despite this recent surge, Glasenberg has still faced substantial year-to-date wealth losses, amounting to a staggering $859 million. However, this represents an improvement from the previous year-to-date losses of $1.169 billion reported on June 9.

In a bid to further diversify his wealth beyond his Glencore holdings, Ivan Glasenberg is currently in the final stages of sealing a deal to acquire Cicli Pinarello Srl (Pinarello), a renowned Italian bicycle manufacturer.

Although the transaction is still pending, the acquisition is projected to value Pinarello at approximately €190 million ($273 million) in terms of enterprise value, taking into account both debt and equity.

As of the drafting of this report, Glasenberg’s cash holdings amount to an impressive $1.2 billion, significantly surpassing Pinarello’s enterprise value of $273 million.

Pinarello, presently owned by L. Catterton, a U.S. private equity fund with $30 billion in assets under management, came under their majority ownership in 2017, with support from the French luxury group, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.