Johann Rupert doesn’t usually make public appearances, but when he does, people pay attention.

South Africa’s richest man provided some insight into his personal success in a rare interview on Power FM’s annual Chairman’s Conversations this week.

In the interview he explains how he built his family’s wealth, starting with his father, Anton Rupert, who began with only £10, and later £100 pounds in the family garage.

I won’t give away too much, though, because you’ll want to hear it all from the man himself:

Over time the Rupert family built up a net worth of over R70 billion, with holdings and interests in almost every sector of the economy, reports BusinessTech.

When asked about how his family’s empire was built up, Rupert said: “Obviously there needs to be an opportunity in the market. It’s not good trying to do something for which there is no market.”

Strategic planning comes next – however the billionaire noted that all the strategic planning in the world would fall apart without attention to detail and proper execution.

Rupert also highlighted the importance of disruption, telling the story of how he and other businessmen disrupted the banking sector with Rand Merchant Bank, which approached big companies in the 70s with offers that undercut the standing banking groups, which Rupert said had formed a cartel.

Rupert’s final bit of advice? Patience. It took a very long time to build his empire and turn cash-flow positive – almost 30 years for his father’s company to reach that point in 1978.

As for South Africa, Rupert acknowledged that the country is currently in a “bad place”.

“We have a chance – one last chance – to fix the country ourselves,” he said. “We either fix our own economy or when Christine Lagarde (managing director of the IMF) arrives, trust me, she’s going to be far, far tougher than anybody here.”

He said that South Africans needed to stop shouting at each other and come together to find solutions – and to stop putting their hopes in politicians to sort the problems out.

“If we don’t talk and listen, across the board, I’m not sure that we as South Africans can rely on politicians,” he said.

Keen for more? He did another insightful interview back in September.

[source:businesstech]