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| Description: Net Worth: $6.5 BILLION Industry: Mining Country of Citizenship: South Africa Age: 69 Number of Jobs Created: 15,365 In 2012, Nicky Oppenheimer sold his family’s 40-percent stake in De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer, to mining behemoth Anglo American for $5.1 billion in cash. The sale ended eight decades of Oppenheimer control of De Beers. The huge cash inflow afforded Oppenheimer’s son Jonathan the freedom to pursue different business interests on behalf of the family. In 1927 Oppenheimer’s grandfather Sir Ernest, took over De Beers, a company originally founded by Cecil John Rhodes in 1888, and consolidated the company’s global monopoly over the world’s diamond industry. Nicky was the last Oppenheimer to serve as Chairman of DeBeers. In 2011, E Oppenheimer & Sons, the family-owned investment firm which Nicky controls, partnered with Temasek, the investment firm of the Government of Singapore, to form Tana Africa Capital, a $300-million private equity fund that invests in agriculture, education, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), and media. Tana plans to take stakes of between 25 and 50 percent in targeted companies, investing between $40 million and $50 million per deal. Nicky is an outspoken advocate for investments in Africa over aid. In 2005, he called on developed countries to invest more and assist with education and skills training over the long term. A keen supporter of wildlife and conservation projects, Nicky Oppenheimer and his wife Orcilla Lasch have won numerous awards for their conservation work. Oppenheimer owns Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, which is home to critically endangered animals such as the desert black rhino and the black-maned Kalahari lions. Oppenheimer attended Harrow School in the UK and obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Oxford University. |
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