Johann Rupert
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Johann Peter Rupert (born 1 June 1950) is the eldest son of the late Afrikaans South African business tycoon Anton Rupert and Huberte Rupert and is the chairman of the Swiss-based luxury-goods company Richemont as well as of the South Africa-based companies VenFin and Remgro.
He grew up and still lives in the South African town of Stellenbosch, where he also attended the University of Stellenbosch and studied economics and company law. He dropped out of university to pursue a career in business. In 2004 the University awarded him an Honorary Doctorate.
Rupert and his wife Gaynor have three children.
Contents |
[edit] Business Career
Rupert served his business apprenticeship in New York, where he worked for Chase Manhattan for two years and for Lazard Freres for three years. He then returned in 1979 to South Africa.
Founded Rand Merchant Bank in 1979 and Started Small Business Development Corporation in same year (+/- 500,000 jobs created since inception).
Merged RMB and Rand Consolidated Investments in 1984, and left as CEO to join Rembrandt Goup.
Rupert founded Compagnie Financiere Richemont in 1988.
Appointed Non-Executive Director of Rothmans International plc in 1988.
Elected “Businessman of the Year” by Sunday Times in 1988.
1989: Appointed Vice Chairman of Rembrandt Group Ltd.
1990: Elected by "Die Burger" newspaper and the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce as the business leader of the year.
Formed Vendôme Luxury Group SA.
1991:Appointed Chairman of Rembrandt Group Limited.
1992: Elected one of 200 "Global Leaders of Tomorrow" by World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland.
1993:Received the M.S. Louw Award by the A.H.I. ("Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut").
1994: Appointed Chairman of the Small Business Development Corporation Limited ("SBDC").
1995: (Formed Nethold SA, bought into Telepui and Mediaset.
Privatised Rothmans International plc. Merged Rothmans International and Rembrandt Tobacco.
1996: Elected Sunday Times Business Times's Businessman of the Year for second time. Merged Nethold into Canal +.
1997: Appointed Non-Executive Chairman of Gold Fields South Africa Ltd. Appointed to the Advisory Council of GEMS Oriental and General Fund.
1998: Merged Rothmans International and BAT Plc.
1999: Awarded the 1999 Free Market Award by The Free Market Foundation of South Africa.
2000: Restructured Rembrandt Group Limited and formed Remgro Limited and VenFin Limited. Appointed Chairman and Chief Executive of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA. Voted “Most influential Business Leader” in South Africa by CEO’s of top 100 Listed Companies
Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Economics by the University of Stellenbosch. Johann played major roles in the establishment of Vodacom, the predominant cellular communication specialist group in Africa, as well as Tracker Network (Pty) Ltd. the industry standard in stolen vehicle recovery systems. Sold Vodacom to Vodafone for R21bn via the restructuring of VenFin Limited.
Staying on as Executive Chairman, he resigned as the CEO of Richemont in September 2004 after 15-month period of leading a company turnaround.
According to the 2006 edition of Forbes' list of the world's richest people, the Rupert family is 207th and worth approximately USD 3.3 billion.
[edit] Other Interests
Rupert is a former cricketer and helped to create the Laureus Foundation, which funds 23 Sport for Good projects, with the goal of motivating underprivileged children. He co-founded the Sports Science Institute with his old friend Morne du Plessis and Dr. Tim Noakes
Rupert also developed the Gary Player designed, Leopard Creek Golf Club in Mpumalanga, South Africa. (Rated as South Africa's best golf course, and number 25 outside the United States of America (Golf Digest))
He serves as Chairman of the South African PGA Tour and the Chairman of the South African Golf Development Board. Following upon his brother's tragic death he has taken over the L'Ormarins wine estate. He has recently initiated a major project to build the farm up in memory of his late brother.
He was council member of The South Africa Foundation and trustee of the Southern African Nature Foundation, The Institute of Directors in Southern Africa, Business South Africa and "Die Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns" and Managing Trustee and member of the investment committee, "Nelson Mandela Children's Fund". He served on the Daimler Chrysler International Advisory Board.
Following in the footsteps of his father, Rupert is also a committed conservationist.
[edit] Trivia
When the British design magazine Wallpaper* described the Afrikaans language as "the ugliest language in the world" in its September 2005 edition (in reference to the Afrikaans Language Monument), Rupert responded by withdrawing advertising for brands such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Montblanc and Alfred Dunhill from the magazine [1].