South Africa’s richest billionaire Johann Rupert has seen his fortune rise by more than $1 billion in the past four days, bringing his net worth back to levels not seen in more than 200 days.
According to data tracked by Billionaires.Africa, Rupert has increased his net worth by $1.4 billion in the last four days, from $9.1 billion on Nov. 9 to $10.5 billion at the time of writing this report.
The recent increase in his net worth followed the strong half-year financial results that his luxury goods company Richemont delivered, owing to higher sales as the group’s watch and luxury goods continued to shine.
Richemont, a luxury goods company that owns a diverse portfolio of premium brands such as Chloe, Dunhill, Alaa, Cartier, and Delvaux, reported a double-digit increase in profit during the first half of its 2023 fiscal year, owing to higher sales as the group’s watch and luxury goods continued to shine despite widespread macroeconomic volatility and political tensions.
The group’s profit at the end of the first six months of its 2022 fiscal period rose by more than 40 percent, from €1.5 billion ($1.55 billion) in the same period in 2022 to €2.1 billion ($2.17 billion).
Investor reactions to the figures in Richemont’s recently published financial results caused the group’s share price to rise by more than 14 percent in the past four days, from CHF103.2 per share on Nov. 9 to CHF118.3 per share on Nov. 13.
The recent surge in Richemont’s shares on the Swiss and Johannesburg stock exchanges increased the market value of his 9.14-percent stake in the luxury goods company to more than $7.5 billion at the time of drafting this report.
Despite the recent surge in his net worth, Rupert still ranks among those African billionaires who have lost a significant portion of their wealth since the start of the year.
However, the recent surge in his net worth pared his year-to-date wealth loss to $1.4 billion, down from $2.85 billion four days ago.
