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Nicky Oppenheimer & family portrait published by Forbes

Nicky Oppenheimer & family

Live source data

Johannesburg · South Africa

Net worth

$10.6B

Rank 4 in Africa

Previous published

$10.6B

Live tracker comparison

Age

80

Wealth origin

Inherited

Published biography

Nicky Oppenheimer, heir to the De Beers diamond fortune, sold his 40% of the firm to mining group Anglo American for $5.1 billion in cash in 2012.

He was the third generation of his family to run De Beers, and took the company private in 2001.

For 85 years until 2012, the Oppenheimer family occupied a controlling spot in the world's diamond trade.

In 2014, Oppenheimer started Fireblade Aviation in Johannesburg, which operates chartered flights.

He owns at least 720 square miles of conservation land across South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Oppenheimer donated more than $110 million to South African small businesses.

Oppenheimer is a sports fan and plays squash, golf and cricket. Notepads in his office read: "Things I must do before cricket".

Source: ForbesForbes Africa's Billionaires 2026 · live tracker · as of Tue, 18 Aug 2026 17:20:04 GMT

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