Oppenheimer bids Anglo farewell

An era ended on Friday when Nicky Oppenheimer, scion of one of SA's premier business families, announced his retirement as a non-executive director of Anglo American.

The company was founded by his grandfather, Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, and is synonymous with SA's mineral wealth.

Anglo chairman Sir John Parker said in a statement: "We will miss Nicky's wise counsel... We wish him well and look forward to a continued strong relationship through our respective interests in De Beers."

Oppenheimer approached Parker in December and said that, as he was 65 and had been with Anglo for 40 years, it was time to step down.

Oppenheimer, whose net worth is estimated at $6-billion, is still chairman of the De Beers diamond mining company.

Parker said Anglo was not planning any changes to its 40%-plus shareholding in De Beers.

He would not speculate on whether the Oppenheimers planned to sell their remaining stake in Anglo. The family has sold most of its holding in Anglo. As recently as November, it sold a third of its remaining shares, leaving it with about 2% of Anglo.

Peter Major of Cadiz Corporate Solutions said Oppenheimer's departure was a continuation of the family's steady withdrawal from Anglo, which started with De Beers's delisting in 2001. However, he said the next generation of Oppenheimers would still be represented on the board as long as Anglo holds such a large stake in De Beers.

"The first thing we should ask is: what about Jonathan?" said Major. "Nicky has been pushing his son up the De Beers corporate ladder for years now. Jonathan, who's an only son, doesn't appear to be as immersed in the De Beers business (let alone Anglo's) as was his grandfather Harry or even possibly his father.

"However, I believe that when Nicky's resignation was being discussed, some provision must have been made for his son. I'm sure there's some sort of road map laid out for Jonathan.

"At the start of the millennium De Beers nearly went broke. And the same almost happened again in 2008/09. Anglo had to bail them out both times. So (Anglo chief executive) Cynthia Carroll would definitely want her people on the boards of Anglo and its subsidiaries so she can keep a tight grip on what's happening."

For close to a century the Oppenheimers stood at the apex of SA's corporate life. Their influence peaked in the '80s when the SA economy was hit hard by sanctions and Anglo was prevented from diversifying its massive retained earnings. The family, through their controlling share in Anglo, ended up owning upwards of 50% of SA's market capitalisation through holdings in 98 JSE-listed companies and many more unlisted ones.

The end of apartheid and SA's re-entry into international finance allowed Anglo to start a long process of diversification from SA.

In 1999 Anglo American plc was established by combining the business interests of Anglo and Minorco. Together with a sweeping restructuring of the group, this created one of the world's largest mining and natural resource companies. In 2001 De Beers was privatised after 113 years as a listed company, illustrating the Oppenheimers' waning influence in Anglo.

The following year Anglo acquired a major stake in Kumba Resources.

These reforms, which began with Anglo's primary listing being moved to London after eight decades on the JSE, were perceived as a snub by the ANC and an indication of Anglo's lack of confidence in the post-apartheid state.

Former President Thabo Mbeki blasted former Anglo CEO Tony Trahar for telling the Financial Times: "I think the South African political risk issue has waned, but I won't say it's completely disappeared."

Relations have improved, but their latest battle is centred on Kumba's iron-ore mining rights.