dollar-billionaires

File photo of African Rainbow Minerals founder and executive chairperson Patrice Motsepe. Photo: Rodger Bosch / AFP

How SA’s dollar-billionaires saw their fortunes decimated in 2020

It’s been a rough ride for all of South Africa’s dollar-billionaires this month, with Patrice Motsepe especially affected. Here are the grisly details.

dollar-billionaires

File photo of African Rainbow Minerals founder and executive chairperson Patrice Motsepe. Photo: Rodger Bosch / AFP

Don’t get it twisted, the dollar-billionaires of South Africa can still have an easy night’s rest when compared to the struggles of the working classes. But the ultra-elite of our society have taken the biggest hits to their once-bustling bank accounts. A bout of March madness – brought on by the ‘coronavirus crash’ – has hit our wealthiest citizens right in the pockets.

The richest South Africans and their dreadful 2020

South Africa started 2020 with six dollar-billionaires. That number is now down to five after Capitec founder Michiel le Roux saw his fortune shrink, taking him out of the “ten-figure club”. Only four of them live in Mzansi, as food and retail mogul Natie Kirsch continues to reside in America. Pretoria-born Elon Musk is now officially a US citizen, so we can’t claim him as one of our own.

Here’s the story of the fearsome financial rollercoaster that 2020 has been responsible for:

How much money South Africa’s dollar-billionaires lost this year

Nicky Oppenheimer

Although he isn’t impervious to this economic downturn, Oppenheimer seems to have weathered the storm better than his other uber-rich compatriots. Bloomberg believe he is $1.4 billion down on his March 2019 net worth, but his losses of approximately $100 million in the last month have been relatively small.

Johann Rupert

He started the year as South Africa’s richest man. A slight, if not literal change in fortunes saw him lose that title, before March compounded his downturn. This time last year, he was worth $7.3 billion. He’s now worth ‘just’ $5.3 billion, sliding down 70 places on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

Natie Kirsch

He’s down half-a-billion dollars in 2020, but Rupert’s losses have mitigated his standing. Kirsch is still worth $5.7 billion, and when the figures for April are released, he will replace the Remgro CEO as the second richest South African. Damage control seems to be the key for these dollar-billionaires.

Koos Bekker

He might have had $300 million chalked off his fortune in March, but he’s moving up in the world. His losses have been comparatively lower than those around him…

Patrice Motsepe

He’s lost about $900 million – $1.2 billion over the last few months, as his mining operations have been hit badly by the coronavirus crash. His net worth is 40% less than it was in January, but fair play to the bloke – he still donated R1 billion of his cash reserves to help South Africa fight COVID-19. With just $1.4 billion in the bank now, Motsepe could be the next dollar-billionaire to “slide-off” the list.