[imagesource: Africa Rainbow Minerals]

South Africa has its fair share of mega-wealthy folks, which goes to show how the country is one of the most unequal societies in the world.

The most unequal, actually.

Wealth can be measured in a number of ways, one of which is by how much stock value you hold on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, or JSE.

Billionaires Africa, an online publication that regularly reports on Africa’s wealthiest people, recently dug deeper to see which South Africans are sitting pretty with their JSE stocks.

The 20 richest investors on the exchange jointly control 1.05 percent of the bourse’s $1.2 market capitalization, which amounts to $12.6 billion…

“The value of their shares is based on prices at the end of trading on August 20, [2021], and valuations are converted to US dollars at current exchange rates.”

The website also mentions how the t20 richest investors’ market capitalisation is higher than all the listed companies on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, and Uganda Stock Exchange.

Let’s see the faces of the top seven South Africans with the most money tied up on the JSE.

At number one we have Patrice Motsepe (seen above).

He has a net worth on the JSE of $2,5 billion (around R36 billion), with holdings in African Rainbow Minerals (AFP), a company he founded, as well as Sanlam and African Rainbow Capital Investments.

AFP, a diversified mining and minerals company, mines iron ore, manganese ore, chrome ore, platinum group metals (PGMs), nickel and coal.

2. Michiel le Roux

• Net worth on the JSE: $1,3 billion (R18,7 billion)
• Holdings: Capitec.

Le Roux founded Capitec Bank in 2001 and owns a 10,84 per cent stake in the company.

3. Johann Rupert

• Net worth on the JSE: $1,2 billion (R17,3 billion).
• Holdings: Remgro, Reinet Investments SCA.

Rupert owns just 1% of Remgro’s publicly traded ordinary shares, but controls all of Remgro’s class-B shares through Rembrandt Trust.

He also owns 24,9 per cent of Reinet Investments SCA.

4. Ivan Saltzman & family

• Net worth on the JSE: $1,005 billion (R14,5 billion).
• Holdings: Dis-Chem.

Ivan Saltzman owns 54,41 per cent of Dis-Chem Pharmacies through his family trust.

5. Najib & Taha Mikati

• Net worth on the JSE: $871,7 million (R12,5 billion).
• Holdings: MTN.

Najib Mikati, the former prime minister of Lebanon, and brother Taha Mikati own a combined 6,74 per cent stake in MTN Group.

6. Giovanni Ravazzotti

• Net worth on the JSE: $850,9 million (R12,3 billion).
• Holdings: Italtile.

Giovanni Ravazzotti founded Italtile, South Africa’s biggest leading franchiser, retailer, and manufacturer of tiles and bathroomware .

He still owns just shy of 34% of Italtile.

7. Christof Wiese

• Net worth on the JSE: $ 762,7 million (just under R11 billion).
• Holdings: Shoprite, Brait, Invicta.

Wiese is a majority shareholder in Brait, which owns Premier Foods, Virgin Active, and UK clothing group New Look.

He also owns 11,44 per cent of Shoprite Holdings.

To see what the other big shots are worth, head here.

[source:billionairesafrica]