The man who will take over the R262 billion Rupert business empire

Anton Rupert, the son of billionaire Johann Rupert, is the crown prince of the R262 billion Rupert business empire.

Johann Rupert is the richest man in South Africa, with a net worth of $16.3 billion, according to the latest Forbes Real-Time Billionaires Index.

Most of this wealth is tied to his shareholding in the Swiss luxury goods firm Compagnie Financière Richemont, where he also serves as chairman.

Richemont was formed in 1998 through a spinoff of assets owned by Rembrandt Group, now Remgro, which his father, Anton, founded in the 1940s.

Other sources of the family’s wealth include their shareholding in Remgro and their stake in Reinet, a Luxembourg-based investment holding company.

Johann Rupert, now 76, continues to control Richemont, Reinet, and Remgro despite not being the majority shareholder.

This is done through a dual-class share structure, which decouples economic ownership from voting power.

This share structure allows the Rupert family to hold control of Richemont, Reinet, and Remgro, which are all companies which they founded.

These companies all had their origins in Voorbrand, a tobacco company founded by Johann Rupert’s father, Anton Rupert, in the 1940s.

Voorbrand became Rembrandt, which expanded into other industries, such as financial services, mining, engineering, and food.

Johann joined his father’s company in 1984 and, soon after, spun off Rembrandt’s international assets to form Compagnie Financiere Richemont.

Reinet was spun out of Richemont’s non-luxury assets, which included its historic stake in British American Tobacco. It recently sold this stake.

Big changes were made in 2000 when Rembrandt was restructured into two publicly traded holding companies, Remgro and Venfin.

Less than a decade later, Remgro and VenFin merged to form the current Remgro, of which Johann remains chairman.

The man who will take over the R262 billion Rupert business empire

Anton Rupert, Johann Rupert’s son, is set to take over the family empire, which includes its stakes in Richemont, Remgro, and Reinet.

Born into the prominent Rupert family in 1987, Anton is the grandson of Anton Rupert, who founded the Rembrandt Group.

He has served as a director on the boards of Richemont and Remgro and is a non-voting observer designated by Reinet Fund.

Since January 2021, he has been a member of the Advisory Board of Asia Partners Fund LP I, a regional Southeast Asia private equity fund.

He is also a member of the board of GESDA, the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator.

Johann Rupert has been tight-lipped about his plans for the future leadership of Richemont and the broader family businesses.

However, recent developments confirmed that Anton Rupert will take over the family’s business empire when his father retires.

This aligns with speculation following Johann Rupert’s 2020 comments that he has a succession plan, which the non-executive directors on the board supported.

This week, Richemont appointed 39-year-old Anton Rupert as the non-executive co-deputy chairman of the board.

He will serve alongside Bram Schot, who has been the non-executive deputy chairman since 2024.

Anton will oversee matters relating to the company’s strategic product and communications committee.

This, the company said, will ensure “continuity in an area of central importance to the group’s creative and commercial direction”.

Johann Rupert said that this appointment is an important step in the board’s long-term succession planning.

“Richemont’s strength has always rested on the continuity that comes from close family involvement and on rigorous governance,” he added.

Anton Rupert lives a private life

Anton Rupert, like his father, Johann, is notoriously media-shy and has not given any public interviews.

He was linked to minor controversies when he was younger, including crashing a 1995 Ferrari F50 on the Helshoogte Pass near Stellenbosch in October 2008.

The rare Ferrari F50 was part of the collection at the Franschhoek Motor Museum, which is owned by the Rupert Family.

Johann Rupert took responsibility for allowing his son to drive the museum’s vehicles, explaining that the cars had to be driven regularly to prevent mechanical decay.

In 2015, media reports linked Anton Rupert to complaints from neighbours in De Waterkant in Green Point, Cape Town.

They complained about noise, including laughter, power ballads, and house music booming from Rupert’s house.

Francesco Uys Rootenberg, secretary of the De Waterkant Civic Association, told City Press they had received seven complaints about noise from Rupert’s house.

“Complaints were also received about illegally parked cars around the house. A black Jaguar and a white Porsche are regular fixtures,” City Press reported.

Apart from these issues, Anton Rupert has stayed out of the press, and little is known about his private or family life.

There are no public records or verified details regarding his marriage status or romantic partners.