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| Description: Net Worth: $2.5 BILLION Industry: Mining Country of Citizenship: South Africa Age: 52 Number of Jobs Created: 6,851 Motsepe still remains South Africa’s only black billionaire since the fall of apartheid in 1994. He is the founder and executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, which has interests in ferrous metals, base metals, gold and platinum. The Soweto-born mining tycoon sits on several company boards, including Harmony Gold, the 12th largest gold mining company in the world, where he serves as non-executive Chairman. Motsepe bought low-producing mine shafts in 1994 on the cheap and quickly harnessed their latent potential by minimising costs and squeezing value out of all areas. He consolidated those mines and acquired other assets of similar value to build African Rainbow Minerals. He is also deputy chairman of Sanlam Limited, a publicly traded South African financial services group. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Swaziland and obtained a law degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, specialising in Business Law and Mining. He rose to become the first-ever black partner in the law firm Bowman Gilfillan in 1994. Motsepe deployed his law degree to effective use when he navigated the treacherous mining space during his investment and acquisition phase. In 2003, he acquired Mamelodi Sundowns, a Pretoria-based football club. Concerned by the gross inequity within the South African economy, Motsepe joined Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in The Giving Pledge by agreeing to give away half his wealth to charitable causes. He is married to Precious Moloi Motsepe, the head of the Motsepe Family Foundation and executive chairperson of African Fashion International, a body dedicated to promoting African and South African fashion. His sister, Bridgette Radebe is married to one of South Africa’s longest-serving government ministers, Jeff Radebe. |
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