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South African tobacco tycoon Anton Rupert dies

Posted on: Thursday, 19 January 2006, 03:30 CST

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.

Source: REUTERS

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