The Rich List - Patrice Motsepe tops it

Mr Big Bucks: Patrice Motsepe is tops with R23.0 billion but ranks lower than the Oppenheimers and Ruperts on Forbes list.

SA's 20 wealthiest people, who are collectively worth R112.2-billion, have seen their wealth jump 58.96% over the past two years. The wealthiest 100 people have seen their wealth shoot up 62.19%. The Sunday Times Rich List, released today, shows that the top 20 make up more than 70% of the wealth of SA's 100 richest people - which stands at R152.72-billion.

Two years ago, the top 20 had a total fortune of R70.57-billion and the richest 100 R94.16-billion.

Most are much richer than is recorded, as they have other investments including cash, property, offshore investments and business interests which are not on the JSE.

The number of billionaires has slipped from 30 last year to 28 this year, but many of SA's richest have increased their wealth, despite the economic crisis.

The Rich List is dominated by entrepreneurs, many of whom changed the face of their industries.

Seven of the top 10 are self-made, and those who come from family money have made even more than the wealth created by entrepreneurial parents and grandparents.

Patrice Motsepe, who for the first time tops the Rich List, has JSE-listed investments worth R22.99-billion, up from R19.91-billion the previous year.

This reflects his stakes in African Rainbow Minerals and Sanlam, though it excludes the value of his other investments, including Premier Soccer League club Mamelodi Sundowns.

A lawyer who went into business, Motsepe was ranked 336th on the Forbes list of richest people in the world this year, with an estimated fortune of $3.3-billion, about R23.36-billion.

He has ousted Lakshmi Mittal, who is not a South African but is on the list by virtue of his local shareholding in ArcelorMittal SA. Mittal's waning fortune, of R20.87-billion, down from R21.5-billion the previous year, reflects that of his investment, the troubled ArcelorMittal SA.

In third position for the fourth consecutive year is Nicky Oppenheimer, whose family retains a 2% stake in Anglo American worth R11.1-billion.

The estimate of his wealth excludes the family's 40% interest in De Beers, believed to be worth £2-billion. The family also owns SA's largest private game reserve, Tswalu Kalahari.

On the Forbes list, Oppenheimer is ranked significantly higher than Motsepe. Oppenheimer is the 136th richest person in the world according to Forbes, with a fortune of $7-billion (R49.5-billion), up from $5-billion last year.

Shoprite chairman Christo Wiese retains fourth position, but his fortune swelled to R10.73-billion, up from R7.3-billion last year.

He also owns wine producer Lourensford Estate and a private game reserve in the Kalahari.

Wiese, a lawyer who joined Pep Stores as an executive director in 1967, owns stakes in Shoprite, PSG Group, Invicta Holdings and Tradehold, but the bulk of his listed wealth is his 15% stake in retailer Shoprite, with a market capitalisation in excess of R59-billion.

Ranked 10th last year, FirstRand founder Laurie Dippenaar has jumped to fifth with a fortune of R5.2-billion, up from R3.05-billion last year with a larger stake in First Rand coupled with a rising share price .

FirstRand and RMB have also made fortunes for non-executive chairman GT Ferreira, in 10th spot, and former FirstRand CEO Paul Harris, who jumped from 28th to 17th position. They are worth R2.52-billion and R1.78-billion, respectively.

But FirstRand is not the only banking group to make billionaires out of its founders. Capitec, after a stunningly successful few years, propelled chairman Michiel le Roux from 26th to 14th position. He is worth R2.19-billion.

Capitec, listed in 2002, has taken away market share from traditional banks through innovations such as lower fees and opening on Sundays.

Capitec's strong performance also helped buoy the fortune of Jannie Mouton, who made the top 20 for the first time. He is ranked 16th, and worth R1.98-billion. Mouton is executive chairman of PSG, which owns 34.6% of Capitec. Capitec CEO Riaan Stassen is ranked 58 with a listed fortune of R411.74-million; former non-executive director Tshepo Mahloele has R267.5-million, and non-executive director Chris Otto holds a stake in Capitec that contributes to his fortune of R238.1-million.

Billions have also been made by founders of businesses that gave consumers what they want in housing, pharmaceuticals and healthcare.

Giovanni Ravazzotti, the chairman of Ceramic Industries and founder of Italtile, is ranked 12th with R2.42-billion. Ceramic Industries director Giuseppe Zannoni's stakes in Ceramic and Italtile are worth R1.7-billion.

Aspen Pharmacare founder Stephen Saad is ranked eighth with a fortune of R4.27-billion and financial director Gus Attridge is 23rd with R1.45-billion.

Something of a "serial entrepreneur", Saad was already a multimillionaire when he founded Aspen after a R2.4-billion hostile takeover of SA Druggists, running the business at first from his garage in Durban.

Discovery Holdings' founder Adrian Gore is worth R2.1-billion and is ranked 15th, while director and co-founder Barry Swartzberg is 26th with R1.1-billion.

While the list includes many people wo have made their fortunes in the past two decades, the old money has got richer.

The Rupert family, ranked in fourth position in 2008, are now in sixth through the Rembrandt Trust, with wealth of R5.14-billion, significantly more than the R3.13-billion in 2008.

Johann Rupert's wealth is listed separately. He is ranked 25th, with R1.3-billion. If Rupert and the Rembrandt Trust's wealth is added together, they would be worth almost R6.5-billion, in 5th position.

Forbes, however, estimates Rupert's wealth at $4.8-billion (R33.98-billion), making him the 219th richest in the world and second only to the Oppenheimer family in SA.

The Ackerman Family Trust, whose stake in Pick n Pay Holdings is worth R4.98-billion ( R4.6-billion) dropped one place to 7th.

The fortunes of Royal Bafokeng Consortium edged up with investments in Astrapak, Impala Platinum, Merafe Resources, Metair Investments and Zurich Insurance company now worth R2.48-billion.

Cyril Ramaphosa's stakes in Assore, Bidvest, Mondi, MTN, SABMiller and Standard Bank are worth R2.22-billion, bringing him up to 13th position from 17th last year.

Resources such as coal and iron ore have made a number of people very rich in recent years.

Optimum Coal, SA's sixth-largest coal producer, has six shareholders in the top 100 following last year's JSE listing.

CEO Mike Teke is worth R608.3-million.

Among non-executive directors, Peter Gain is worth R515.4-million, Tom Borman R498.3-million, Mlungisi Kwini R432.4-million, Eliphus Monkeo R425.6-million, and non-executive chairman Sivi Gounden R387.8-million,

Exxaro, SA's second-largest coal producer and a major supplier to power utility Eskom, has also made a lot of people rich. CEO Sipho Nkosi is worth R1.6-billion, followed by directors Vincent Mntambo (R914.9-million), Leonard Sowazi (R622.8-million) and Dalikhaya Zihlangu (R466.36-million).

Directors of Famous Brands occupy five of the top 100 positions.

Chairman Panagiotis Halamandaris' 12.5% stake in Famous Brands is worth R437.4-million, deputy chairman Theofanis Halamandaris is worth R379-million, director Perikles Halamandaris R328.86-million and John Halamandres R261.51-million.

Hymie Levin's stake in Famous Brands (along with Netcare and Adv-tech) gives him a fortune of R249.74-million.

Famous Brands CEO Kevin Hedderwick, meanwhile, is worth R47.6-million.

Altron chairman and founder Bill Venter has dropped from eighth in 2008, with a fortune of R1.89-billion, to 16th a year ago and 20th this year, with R1.64-billion.

His stake in Allied Electronic Corporation has remained the same but the value of the shares has dropped.