Nicholas F. Oppenheimer (Net worth: $7.3 B)
Like Dangote, Nicky was born into a wealthy family. His father, Harry Frederick Oppenheimer was a successful businessman in South Africa and one of the world’s richest men. In 2004, he was voted 60th in the SABC3’s Great South Africans. He was the chairman of Anglo-American Corporation for 25 years and chairman of De Beers for 27 years until he retired and passed on the position to his heir, Nicky.
De Beers is a diamond mining company. During an auction in the year 2016, the rare Oppenheimer Blue diamond, was sold for $57.5 million which set a record for the most expensive diamond sold at an auction. The Oppenheimer family maintained a dominating place in the world’s diamond trade for a really long time.
In 2012, Nicholas Oppenheimer sold his 40% stake in DeBeers to mining corporate ‘Anglo American’ for $5.1 billion. He is also a non-executive director of Anglo-American Corporation.
