Everyone in South Africa knows of Johann Rupert. Not only is the 71-year-old entrepreneur the second wealthiest person on the African continent, he is also South Africa’s richest citizen. According to Forbes, the super wealthy Rupert currently boasts a bank balance of almost US$8 billion.
Born to successful South African businessman and philanthropist Anton Rupert, the billionaire businessman founded Compagnie Financière Richemont in 1988, more commonly known as Richemont. The luxury goods business manages several high profile luxury brands; including Cartier, Dunhill, Piaget, Montblanc and Van Cleef & Arpels, among others. Rupert’s company is the third largest luxury goods company on the planet, trailing behind juggernauts LVMH and Estée Lauder, per Deloitte’s 2019 report on Global Powers of Luxury Goods.
So how does the South African tycoon spend his billions? Let’s take a closer look….
Though he enjoys fame and fortune, Rupert is a notoriously private person who lives his life as much as possible away from the public eye. The Ruperts live in a huge home in Cape Town, South Africa. As per Briefly News, it has been reported that their mansion is worth over US$2.1 million (two million euros).
Additionally, the Ruperts own swathes of South African farmlands, most notably L’Ormarins Wine Estate, which includes Drakenstein Stud Farm. The expansive wine estate is located in one of South Africa’s famed wine-producing regions, Franschhoek.
Like many of his moneyed counterparts, a considerable amount of the Richemont CEO’s riches has been spent on motor vehicles. Cars are clearly one of Rupert’s real passions; in fact, his collection of cars is so great that he established the Franschhoek Motor Museum.
The museum is open to the public and houses over 220 of Rupert’s personal automobiles, including many vintage vehicles and even some racing cars.
In 2001, Rupert’s brother Anthonij passed away in a car accident. Following this tragedy, Rupert assumed control of L’Ormarins Wine Estate in picturesque Franschhoek. As a means of honouring his late brother’s memory, Rupert began to expand the family’s viticultural operations.
The Rupert portfolio of wines includes its flagship brand Anthonij Rupert Wyne, as well as a host of other popular local labels such as Protea, Cape of Good Hope Wines and L’Ormarins. Stretched over some 3,200 acres of land, L’Ormarins also features two tasting rooms, the Anthonij Rupert Tasting Room and the Terra del Capo Tasting Room, the range of wines started by the late Anthonij Rupert himself.
In addition to wine, cars and property, Rupert has directed sizeable portions of his wealth towards sports and sport development. An athlete himself, Rupert is a former cricket player and a lover of golf.
He developed the Leopard Creek Golf Club in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province. This is one of the country’s top rated courses, and was once ranked by Golf Digest as the 25th best course outside the USA.
Rupert also bought a stake in professional English rugby team Saracens, until he sold his 50 per cent share to Nigel Wray in 2018. Beyond that, the South African billionaire founded the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a charity organisation that aims to use sport to uplift communities. The organisation supports hundreds of sports programmes and initiatives in some 40 countries around the world.
