SA's top 10 richest people worth R205-billion

06 December 2014 - 21:09 By Thekiso Anthony Lefifi
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CASUAL: Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg made a friendly call
CASUAL: Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg made a friendly call

The country's 10 richest people have a combined wealth of R205-billion, an 81.4% increase on the R113-billion in shares they held in March last year.

The Sunday Times Rich List, revealed today, shows that despite anaemic GDP growth of an expected 1.5% this year, the wealth at the top of the pyramid has soared.

That R205-billion is skewed by the fact that the country's wealthiest person is new to the Rich List: Ivan Glasenberg, the South African-born boss of Swiss-based mining company Glencore, whose fortune was worth R61.3-billion last month.

Glasenberg, who has kept his wealth under wraps, did not feature until Glencore listed on the JSE last year. His inclusion knocked Christo Wiese, chairman of Africa's largest retailer Shoprite, from top spot.

The best-paid executive last year was Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani, who scored R107-million.

Last year, strikes brought the mining industry to a standstill as union Amcu demanded a minimum wage for mineworkers of R12500 a month.

The Rich List shows that 31 of 214 South African CEOs earned more than 100 times that coveted R12500 monthly salary.

Old Mutual CEO Julian Roberts, who took home R73-million last year, earned 488 times that R12500. Sasol CEO David Constable's R53.6-million was 358 times that amount.

Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson earned R50-million and MTN CEO Sifiso Dabengwa was paid R48-million.

More controversially, the directors of Eskom continue to coin it, although the bumbling parastatal has implemented power cuts across the country.

Eskom lavished R52-million on 11 individuals last year, with five of the top 11 best-paid parastatal bosses coming from the embattled power company.

Brian Dames, who left as CEO earlier this year, took home R8.5-million and former finance chief Paul O'Flaherty and former customer service head Erica Johnson took home R5.9-million each.

But when it comes to lifetime wealth, Glasenberg was the clear winner this year.

Glasenberg, a notoriously media-shy man described by the Financial Times as "one of the great enigmas of the corporate world", went to Johannesburg's Hyde Park High School and studied at Wits University, before starting work at the group that became Glencore in the 1980s.

Living in Switzerland, he controls 8.4% of the R758-billion global commodities giant.

Though Wiese's fortune was estimated at R35.8-billion on this year's list by the end of November, he is likely to depose Glasenberg as the richest South African on next year's list. Until now, his 52% shareholding in Pepkor was not included as the retailer was not listed on the JSE.

But last week's mega deal, the largest takeover in South African corporate history, will see Steinhoff buy Pepkor for R62.8-billion from Wiese and Brait.

As a result, Wiese will end up owning just under 20% of Steinhoff, a stake worth more than R30-billion. When that's added to his existing R35.8-billion in listed investments, Wiese is likely to rise to the top of the table again.

While mining mogul Patrice Motsepe briefly led the list two years ago, the plunge in the value of commodities shares means that the chairman of African Rainbow Minerals and owner of 2013 Premier League champions Mamelodi Sundowns now drops to fifth on the list, behind Glasenberg, Wiese, Naspers former CEO Koos Bekker and Aspen CEO Stephen Saad.

The former Bowman Gilfillan partner's assets are worth R11.8-billion - a loss of R6.7-billion in his wealth since March.

Media mogul Bekker has steadily climbed the ranks in recent years, thanks to his strategy of taking shares in Naspers as payment instead of a salary. Naspers share price has soared 33% this year, thanks to its Chinese investment Tencent.

In 2012, Bekker was 12th on the list. Last year, he climbed to eighth place. This year, with a fortune of R23.4-billion by end- November, Bekker is the country's third-richest person.

Mining bosses whose fortunes have taken a dip include Desmond Sacco, chairman of Assore. As iron-ore demand has plunged, Assore's share price shed 53% this year, which meant Sacco's fortune plunged to R6-billion from R10.3-billion last year. This meant he fell from fourth place to 16th this year.

Johann Rupert, ranked the richest South African by Forbes, still boasts a fortune of R14.6-billion when the value of his family's Rembrandt Trust (seventh on the list with R11.7-billion) is added to the wealth attributed to him personally of R2.9-billion.

But the Rich List figures show that, despite nearly two decades of empowerment deals, only 13 of the top 100 richest South Africans are black.

This list also includes the Royal Bafokeng Consortium (11th on the list with a fortune of R7.5-billion), HCI's recently departed chairman Marcel Golding (28th with R1.7-billion), Exxaro founder Sipho Nkosi (38th with R1.08-billion) and former ANC national executive committee member Saki Macozoma (57th with R777-million).

By the end of November, there were only two woman among the top 100: Aspen chairwoman Judy Dlamini, 40th on the list with R1.05-billion and lawyer Sharon Wapnick, who chairs property company Octodec, at 74th.

The biggest loser was Leon Kirkinis, former African Bank CEO, whose investment of R500-million in the bank shrank to R6.8-million when it collapsed in August. It is unclear if he, or the bank's shareholders, will recover any of their money.

All research was conducted by Who Owns Whom

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