South African Billionaire Becomes Richest Man in Africa, Dangote Gets New Position in World List

South African Billionaire Becomes Richest Man in Africa, Dangote Gets New Position in World List

  • Nigeria's wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote, has dropped down in the list of African billionaires in the latest Bloomberg ranking
  • Dangote dropped to second behind South African billionaire Johann Rupert, who is the chairman of Compagnie Financière Richemont
  • In the last 10 years, Nigerian number one billionaire, Dangote, has occupied the position of the richest man in Africa

Legit.ng journalist Dave Ibemere has over a decade of business journalism experience with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.

South African billionaire Johann Rupert is now the richest man in Africa, surpassing Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote.

According to Bloomberg, Rupert's fortune swelled to $13.65 billion, positioning him as the 154th richest person in the world.

Aliko Dangote billionaire loses position as Africa richest man
Dangote loses his spot as Africa's richest man to Rupert. Photo credit: Dangote
Source: Getty Images

This is $50 million higher than Dangote's net worth of $13.6 billion on Friday, August 2, 2024.

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In the latest Bloomberg global ranking, Dangote is listed as the 156th richest man in the world.

Dangote, Rupert's wealth source

Dangote and Rupert have experienced different movements in wealth since the start of 2024.

While Rupert's wealth has increased by $1.21 billion from January to August, the depreciation of the naira has significantly slashed Dangote's wealth.

Billionaires.Africa revealed that, over the last six months, Dangote has lost over $10 billion.

The majority of Dangote's fortune is derived from his 86% stake in the publicly traded Dangote Cement. Consequently, his wealth is heavily tied to the performance of the Nigerian economy and currency.

In contrast, Rupert’s fortune is primarily derived from Cie Financière Richemont, a publicly traded luxury goods manufacturer and retailer and the world's largest luxury watchmaker.

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Here are the top 10 richest men in the world

  • Elon Musk: $241bn
  • Jeff Bezos: $207bn
  • Bernard Arnault: $182bn
  • Mark Zuckerberg: $177bn
  • Bill Gates: $157bn
  • Larry Page: $153bn
  • Larry Ellison: $152bn
  • Steve Ballmer: $145bn
  • Sergey Brin: $144bn
  • Warren Buffett: $136bn

Forbes releases list of 25 richest people

In a similar report, Legit.ng revealed Forbes's list of the 25 wealthiest men in the world.

The list showed that Elon Musk had been dethroned as the world's richest billionaire.

This is because he lost a substantial part of his wealth since his $44 billion takeover of Twitter.

Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Dave Ibemere avatar

Dave Ibemere (Senior Business Editor) Dave Ibemere is a senior business editor at Legit.ng. He is a financial journalist with over a decade of experience in print and online media. He also holds a Master's degree from the University of Lagos. He is a member of the African Academy for Open-Source Investigation (AAOSI), the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and other media think tank groups. He previously worked with The Guardian, BusinessDay, and headed the business desk at Ripples Nigeria. Email: dave.ibemere@corp.legit.ng.