South African tobacco tycoon Anton Rupert dies

By Marius Bosch

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African businessman Anton
Rupert, who founded Swiss-listed luxury goods group Richemont,
has died, his family said on Thursday.

Rupert, 89, whose family is among the 500 richest in the
world with assets worth around $1.7 billion according to
business magazine Forbes, built up a business empire spanning
several continents after starting to manufacture cigarettes in
his garage in the 1940s.

Family spokesman Hans Knoetze said Rupert — South Africa’s
best known Afrikaner businessman — died peacefully on
Wednesday night at his home in Stellenbosch, near Cape Town.
Rupert has been ill since the death of his wife in October last
year.

Rupert was the driving force behind the creation of
Richemont, bringing some of the world’s most exclusive brands
such as Mont Blanc, Cartier and Dunhill under one umbrella.

“As a builder of trademarks and a creator of ideas, Rupert
hardly had his match in Southern Africa or elsewhere. He knew
the value of international renowned trademarks long before
concepts such as ‘intellectual property’ and ‘intangible
assets’ became fashionable,” the Rupert family said in a
statement.

Other Rupert family interests include investment firm
Venfin and investment holding group Remgro. They also held a
sizeable stake in British American Tobacco.

Although Rupert’s early business strategy was prompted by
the Afrikaner nationalism which gave rise to apartheid, he
mistrusted politicians and had numerous clashes with South
Africa’s apartheid-era prime ministers, according to a recent
biography.

Rupert was a keen conservationist and a co-founder of the
World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

His last big project was the Peace Parks Foundation, a
non-profit body he co-founded with former South African
President Nelson Mandela and the late Prince Bernhard of the
Netherlands.

The foundation aims to create vast “Peace Parks” to allow
the free movement of animals and humans across country borders
within the parks.

Mandela, a friend of Rupert, paid tribute to the
businessman on Thursday.

“It was with shock and sadness that we learned of the
passing away of Dr. Anton Rupert… Mr. Mandela commented that
we have lost a giant of a man,” Mandela’s spokeswoman Zelda le
Grange said.