After losing nearly $100 million in the first nine months of the year, South African billionaire Nicky Oppenheimer has returned to the ranks of the few African billionaires who have seen significant gains in their net worth year-to-date despite a global decline in the valuation of publicly traded companies.
According to data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which tracks and compares the fortunes of the world’s 500 richest people, Oppenheimer’s net worth has climbed by $225 million since the start of the year, from $7.95 billion to $8.18 billion at the time of writing this story.
The recent increase in his net worth, which solidifies his position as one of the world’s wealthiest billionaires, can be attributed to the performance of his private equity investments, which he has been managing since 2012, when he sold his family’s 40-percent stake in De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer, to mining conglomerate Anglo-American.
The vast majority of Oppenheimer’s billion-dollar fortune stems from his private equity investments in Africa, Asia, the United States, and Europe, which he makes through Stockdale Street in London and Tana Africa Capital in Johannesburg.
Aside from his investments in Stockdale and Tana Africa Capital, a private equity joint venture that he established with Singapore-based investment fund Temasek Holdings, Oppenheimer continues to hold investments in 4Di Capital, a South African-focused venture capital firm.
The South African billionaire also owns a 3.37-percent stake in Integrated Diagnostics Holdings, a consumer healthcare company with subsidiaries in Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, Nigeria, and, most recently, Pakistan with the acquisition of Islamabad Diagnostic Centre, one of Pakistan’s largest integrated diagnostics providers.
The multimillion-dollar increase in his net worth solidifies his status as one of Africa’s richest men as he vies to reclaim his title as South Africa’s richest man after losing out to fellow billionaire Johann Rupert.
