Johann Rupert, South Africa’s richest individual, has had a significant fall in his net worth in 2023, totaling $1.8 billion.
According to Forbes, Johann Rupert’s net worth was estimated to be $11.1 billion at the start of the year.
His net worth has plummeted dramatically to $9.3 billion, according to Nairamterics. One of the primary reasons for this drop is the performance of his investment in the Swiss luxury goods company, Compagnie Financière Richemont.
Despite the fact that Compagnie Financière Richemont SA (Richemont) has fared very well this year on the JSE, the luxury goods group’s share price has plummeted dramatically despite overall solid quarterly sales performance.
Although Richemont disclosed lower sales figures for the Americas, they did add that the first quarter of the fiscal year began smoothly, with sales increasing by 14% at actual exchange rates (and 19% at constant exchange rates) as of June 30.
Increased sales at actual currency rates propelled this development across practically all business sectors, distribution channels, and locales.
According to CNBC, the cause for the share price decrease was Richemont’s disclosure of declining US sales and a notable bounce in Asia. At the same time, European market indices fell somewhat that morning.
The European stock market’s decline is purportedly tied to China’s GDP growth in the second quarter, which was 6.3% rather than the 7.3% projected by the market. Data on industrial output and retail sales fell short of expectations as well.
Richemont shares have dropped by 26% during the last six months. This decline can be traced primarily to LVMH’s underperformance as the leader in the luxury goods business, as well as dropping sales in China, which are currently experiencing a minor comeback.