It’s comparatively ‘easy’ to make money – when you have money to start with. Compound interest is indeed the eighth wonder of the world!
As they say, the rich get richer, while the poor stay, well, poor.
Money makes money – and these seven South African men have made a lot of it over the years.
And by a lot, we mean a LOT!
How they made their money
According to Forbes’ real-time tracking of billionaires, Johann Rupert and his family are the richest in South Africa, with a net worth of $13.7 billion.
The Ruperts are followed by diamond magnateNicky Oppenheimer, who boasts a net worth of $10.4 billion.
They are followed by Koos Bekker, Patrice Motsepe, Michiel Le Roux, Jannie Mouton and Christo Wiese.
South Africa’s seven dollar billionaires all made their money in different ways – from luxury goods, diamonds, mining, media, banking and retail.
Last week, Rupert was the big ‘loser’ as his net worth dropped by $300 million (R5.4 billion).
Oppenheimer, Motsepe, Mouton and Wiese all lost $100 million (R1.8 billion) to their net worths.
Cumulatively, South Africa’s seven dollar billionaires are worth $36.7 billion (R663 billion).
Meanwhile, in terms of the overall world list, South Africa-born Elon Musk remains the world’s richest person with a reported $409 billion.
Below, the list of the top seven richest South Africans in the world as of 23 June 2025.
Rank
Name
Last week
This week
Source
183
Johann Rupert & family
$14bn
$13.7bn
Luxury goods
271
Nicky Oppenheimer & family
$10.5bn
$10.4bn
Diamonds
1 049
Koos Bekker
$3.6bn
$3.6bn
Media, investments
1 174
Patrice Motsepe
$3.3bn
$3.2bn
Mining
1 506
Michiel Le Roux
$2.5bn
$2.5bn
Banking
2 056
Jannie Mouton & family
$1.8bn
$1.7bn
Retail
2 149
Christo Wiese
$1.7bn
$1.6bn
Financial services
TOTAL
$37.4bn
$36.7bn
How far off are YOU from joining this list of South African dollar billionaires?
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