South Africa's 7 dollar billionaires just got even RICHER

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It’s comparatively ‘easy’ to make money – when you have money. Compound interest really is 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 Africans have made a lot of it over the years.

And by a lot, we mean a LOT!

How they made their cash

According to Forbes’ real-time tracking of billionaires, Johann Rupert and his family are the richest in South Africa, with a net worth of $14.6 billion.

The Ruperts are followed by diamond magnate Nicky 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.

In the last week alone, Rupert added a whopping $500 million (R9 billion) to his net worth, while Nicky Oppenheimer saw his wealth drop by $100 million (R1.8 billion).

Cumulatively, South Africa’s seven dollar billionaires are worth $37.4 billion (R675 billion).

Meanwhile, in terms of the overall world list, South Africa-born Elon Musk remains the world’s richest person with a reported $420.2 billion.

Below, the list of the top seven richest South Africans in the world as of 20 May 2025.

Rank	Name	Last week	This week	Source
165	Johann Rupert & family	$14.1bn	$14.6bn	Luxury goods
264	Nicky Oppenheimer & family	$10.5bn	$10.4bn	Diamonds
1 085	Koos Bekker	$3.5bn	$3.5bn	Media, investments
1 214	Patrice Motsepe	$3.1bn	$3.1bn	Mining
1 506	Michiel Le Roux	$2.5bn	$2.5bn	Banking
2 043	Jannie Mouton & family	$1.7bn	$1.7bn	Retail
2 194	Christo Wiese	$1.6bn	$1.6bn	Financial services
TOTAL		$37bn	$37.4bn