Pretoria-born Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and the social network X, entered 2024 with the title of richest man in the world, according to Bloomberg’s annual ranking. The list of the world’s top 500 billionaires includes other African entrepreneurs, including Nigerian Aliko Dangote, leader of the continent’s largest industrial conglomerate.
This year’s list, published by Bloomberg magazine, is led by South African businessman Elon Musk (who has triple citizenship of South Africa, the United States and Canada), with a fortune valued at 229 billion dollars.
The growth is due above all to the stock market valuation of Tesla, the global leader in the electric vehicle segment, which closed the year with a market value of 102 billion dollars, and also to the good results of other companies he founded, such as Space X, the pioneer of commercial flights to the moon, whose most profitable unit is the satellite Internet offer, which sent the company’s value skyrocketing to 53.2 billion dollars.
He also owns The Boring Company, which builds underground tunnels (3.3 billion dollars) and Neurolink, a company at the forefront of neurotechnology and Artificial Intelligence (5 billion dollars). In the opposite direction is the controversial and media-savvy X Corp, owner of the social network “X” (so renamed by Elon Musk after his purchase of Twitter), which is now valued at 9.3 billion dollars, 72% below its acquisition value in October 2022.
Meet the other African billionaires on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index 2024
Aliko Dangote, Nigeria
Fortune: 15.4 billion dollars
Position in the global ranking: 124th place
He owns the Dangote Group, which includes the continent’s largest cement producer (Dangote Cement) and other industrial companies in the sugar, salt, oil (its refinery has been under construction since 2016 and is expected to be one of the largest in the world), fertiliser (the plant was inaugurated in 2022), cars (Peugeot plant) and food sectors. He is also known for his philanthropic activities, particularly in the areas of health and football (he is an Arsenal fan and a sponsor of the Nigerian national team). Aliko Dangote is 66, lives in Lagos, studied in Cairo and is the father of four children, one of whom is adopted.
Johann Rupert, South Africa
Fortune: 12 billion dollars
Global ranking: 166th place
Through a family trust, Johann Rupert controls Compagnie Financiere Richemont, the world’s largest producer of luxury watches, whose portfolio includes brands such as Jaeger-LeCoultre and Cartier. Another of his most important holdings is the investor Remgro, based in Stellenbosch (Cape Town), which has a stake in 30 other companies. He is 73 years old, the father of three children, a nature conservation and sports enthusiast (he used to play cricket) and the founder of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the Sports Science Institute.
Nicky Oppenheimer, South Africa
Fortune: 9.75 billion dollars
Global ranking: 227th place
His family has built an empire in diamonds (in 2012, he sold his 40 per cent stake in De Beers to the Anglo American mining group for 5.2 billion dollars). Today he owns the investment houses Stockdale Street, based in London, and Tana Africa Capital, in Johannesburg, and has stakes in companies in Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States.
Nassef Sawiris, Egypt
Fortune: 8.23 billion dollars
Global ranking: 290th place
He owns 39% of OCI, a fertiliser producer based in the Netherlands, which is a spin-off from the family company Orascom Construction, founded by his father Onsi Sawiris. Other important holdings include the 7 per cent he owns in Germany’s Adidas, 6 per cent in the US company MSG Sports, owner of the New York Knicks, and 5 per cent in the French chemical company Arkema.
Natie Kirsh, Eswatini
Fortune: 7.48 billion dollars
Position in the global ranking: 320th place
A dual citizen of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland, where he was born and currently lives) and South Africa, he owns the Kirsh Group, which controls Jetro Holdings, which owns, among others, the Restaurant Depot and Jetro Cash & Carry chains in the United States. His Kirsh Foundation leads various philanthropic projects in the areas of entrepreneurship, education and health.
Naguib Sawiris, Egypt
Fortune: 6.32 billion dollars
Position in the global ranking: 408th place
Nassef Sawiris’ older brother heads the Luxembourg-based investment holding company La Mancha Resources, which owns stakes in several mining companies. He is one of the leading investors in the Euronews television channel.
See the world’s top 15 billionaires…
In the ranking, Elon Musk dethroned Frenchman Bernard Arnault (owner of the LVMH group, which includes luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Dom Pérignon, Veuve Clicquot, Tag Heuer and Tiffany & Co) from first place, while third place is still held by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.
The top 10 is dominated by American billionaires from the technology sector. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, heiress to the L’Oréal group and the richest woman in the world, is also in 12th place.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and owner of X, 229 billion dollars
Bernard Arnault, owner of the LVMH group, 179 billion dollars
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, 177 billion dollars
Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, 141 billion dollars
Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft and owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, 131 billion dollars
Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Meta, 128 billion dollars
Larry Page, co-founder of Google, 126 billion dollars
Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, 123 billion dollars
Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, 120 billion dollars
Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, 120 billion dollars
Carlos Slim, owner of América Móvil, 104 billion dollars
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, heiress of L’Oréal, 100 billion dollars
Mukesh Ambani, owner of Reliance Industries Limited, 97 billion dollars
Amancio Ortega, founder of Inditex, 88 billion dollars
Gautam Adani, founder of Adani Group, 83 billion dollars
Values in billions of dollars according to quotations on 2 January 2024
Source: Bloomberg Billionaires Index (the ranking is updated periodically)