Johann Rupert loses US$1,8bln

Johann Rupert, the richest person in South Africa, saw a substantial decline in his net worth in 2023 so far, totaling US$1,8 billion.Mr. Mustapha played a critical role in mediating the release of over 100 of the Chibok school girls who were kidnapped by Islamic insurgency group Boko Haram in a remote part of Nigeria in April 2014, giving rise to the international

Based on information obtained from Forbes, Johann Rupert’s net worth was estimated to be US$11,1 billion at the beginning of the year. As reported by Nairamterics, His net worth has dropped significantly to US$9,3 billion. The performance of his investment in the Swiss luxury goods company, Compagnie Financière Richemont, is one of the main causes responsible for this decrease.

Even though Compagnie Financière Richemont SA (Richemont) has performed exceptionally well on the JSE this year, the luxury goods group’s share price dropped significantly despite overall strong quarterly sales results.

Although Richemont revealed lower sales numbers for the Americas, they did note that the first quarter of the fiscal year started off successfully, with sales growing by 14 percent at real exchange rates (and by 19 percent at constant exchange rates) at the end of June 30.

Increased sales at actual currency rates across almost all business categories, distribution channels, and locations drove this development. According to CNBC, Richemont’s revelation of declining US sales and a noteworthy rebound in Asia was the catalyst for the share price decline. At the same time, European market indices had minor decreases that morning as well.

The decline in the European stock market is reportedly related to China’s GDP growth in the second quarter, which was 6,3 percent instead of the 7,3 percent predicted by the market. Data on industrial output and retail sales also fell short of forecasts. —Business Insider Africa