SA billionaire loses big time

Johannesburg - South Africa's mining magnate Patrice Motsepe, the country's first black billionaire on the Forbes list of global billionaires, has had a dramatic reversal in fortunes that saw his net worth nearly halve and his position on the list fall.

Motsepe, who tells of having started his mining business from a briefcase, saw his net worth shrink to $1.3bn from $2.4bn a year ago and his position drop to 503, a position he shares with 41 other billionaires.

Motsepe is one of the leading figures of the drive by the South African government to wrest the ownership of mining and other business sectors out of predominantly white hands.

He is chairperson of diversified mining group African Rainbow Minerals, which has platinum, iron ore, manganese and nickel assets.

Nicky Oppenheimer and family, who have a 40% stake in the world's leading rough diamond producer De Beers, moved up the list despite a falling net worth.

Oppenheimer cracked the top 100 spot, coming in at 98, a significant improvement on position 173 a year ago. The family's net worth has eased to $5bn from $5.7bn.

The parlous state of the global diamond industry, where major producers like De Beers and Alrosa have cut back production and a number of juniors have stopped production entirely, makes the Oppenheimer performance bit of a surprise.

Forbes said the number of billionaires shrank to 793 compared to last year's 1 125, and their collective net worth fell by $2 trillion to $2.4 trillion. The average net worth dropped 23% to $3bn, a figure last seen in 2003.

Microsoft's Bill Gates moved into number one spot despite an $18bn reversal in his net worth, pushing investment guru Warren Buffett into second place.

Buffett's net worth was $25bn lower than last year.

- Miningmx.com

For more mining sector coverage, visit miningmx.com.