South African billionaire entrepreneur and second richest man in the continent, Johann Rupert is not worth about $11.5 billion, according to Forbes. With his current net worth, Rupert has moved up to 183rd on the elite list of the richest billionaires in the world.
The luxury watchmaker moved up the ladder quickly in 2022 after his downturn from $7.3 billion to $5.4 billion last year.
He made a bulk of his fortune from a company that he founded in 1988, Compagnie Financiere Richemont, they produce Swiss Luxury goods and is best known for the brands Cartier and Montblanc.
Johann Rupert also controls Cie Financiere Richemont, the world’s largest luxury watchmaker through a family trust.
According to a Bloomberg report, Johann Rupert and his family’s net worth is the relative value of 6.3 million ounces of gold, 124 million barrels of oil, 0.0050% GDP of the United States of America, $170,240 times the median U.S household income, 0.496% of existing homes in the United States, and 182% of the top 200 U.S executives total awarded compensation.
He also owns other holdings together with his family including FirstRand, Remgro, Unilever South Africa and RMB Holdings.
Talking about his early years, Johann Rupert enrolled at the University of Stellenbosch to study economics and corporate law but did not finish.
He would eventually move to New York where he got a job with Chase Manhattan and then return to South Africa to found Rand Merchant Bank.
His father, Anton Rupert was also a billionaire industrialist and founded the tobacco company, Rembrandt Group in 1948.