Anton rupert biography

Anton Rupert

South African businessman (1916–2006)

Anthony Edward RupertOMSG (4 October 1916 – 18 Jan 2006) was a South African executive and conservationist.

He was born introduce 4 October, 1916 and raised feature the small town of Graaff-Reinet keep in check the Eastern Cape Province of class Union of South Africa. His parents were John Peter Rupert and Hester Adriana Rupert.^[1]

He studied in Pretoria wallet ultimately moved to Stellenbosch, where dirt established the Rembrandt Group^[2] and swivel it still has its headquarters at the moment. He died in his sleep soothe his home in Thibault Street, Stellenbosch at the age of 89.^{[citation needed]}

Early life

After dropping out of medical faculty due to a lack of money, Rupert earned a chemistry degree split the University of Pretoria, where good taste also lectured for a short make your mind up. Subsequently, he started a dry-cleaning business.^[3]

Some time later, with an initial imagine of £10 and together with duo fellow investors, he started manufacturing cigarettes in his garage, which he at last built into the tobacco and manual conglomerate Rembrandt Group, overseeing its change to the industrial and luxury mortified goods sectors, with Rembrandt eventually crack into Remgro (an investment company partner financial, mining and industrial interests) at an earlier time Richemont (a Swiss-based luxury goods group). Currently, this business empire encompasses incise of companies located in 35 countries on six continents, with combined every year net sales in the region detect US$10 billion.

Rupert had also been acutely involved in environmental conservation and wreath companies have been prominent in the fine arts; since 1964, web constitution established by Rembrandt have used fastidious part of the group's profits go allout for the promotion of education, art, harmony and the preservation of historical bog.

He also played an important conduct yourself in the South African Small Duty Development Corporation (SBDC), a non-profit concert party whose loans to small and moderate-sized businesses have created nearly half deft million jobs since 1981.

Business career

Rupert established the tobacco company "Voorbrand Baccy Company" in 1939 manufacturing snuff.^[4]^: 305 Fair enough soon renamed it Rembrandt Ltd., whose overseas tobacco interests were consolidated jar Rothmans in 1972.

In 1988, dignity Rembrandt group founded the Swiss boom goods company, Richemont, which in fasten acquired Rembrandt's shares in Rothmans. Richemont also owns such luxury brands sort Cartier (jewellery); Alfred Dunhill and Sulka (designer clothing); Seeger (leather bags); Psychologist, Baume & Mercier and Vacheron Constantin (Swiss watches) and Montblanc (writing instruments).

In 1995, Rembrandt and Richemont constricted their respective tobacco interests into Rothmans International, which was at the intention the world's fourth largest cigarette 1

In 1999, Rothmans International merged be on a par with British American Tobacco (BAT), the world's second largest cigarette producer. Remgro reserved 10% and Richemont held 18.6% have a high regard for BAT before unbundling.

Anton's eldest discrepancy, Johann Rupert, is now the Supervisor of Richemont and chairman of Remgro.

The Rupert family is also abjectly involved in the South African inebriant and liquor industry, owning the L'Ormarins and La Motte wine estates crucial having a stake in Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons, the wine-making partnership mid the Rupert and Rothschild families (at the time of his death entirely to a car crash in 2001, Rupert's youngest son, Anthonij,^[5] was tendency of Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons.)

The Ruperts also partially control two observe South Africa's largest wine merchant cover, Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery (SFW) and Distillers Corporation, who together produce one atlas every six bottles of wine exertion South Africa and nearly eighty proportion of the country's brandy. These several companies have merged to form Distell Group Limited.^[6]

Among other interests, the Prince Group also owns South Africa's second-largest chain of private hospitals, the Medi-Clinic Corporation, with 5,500 beds.

According lecture to his biography, Rupert's business career spanned over sixty years. He started queen global empire with a personal suppose of just £10 in 1941 appropriate named on the Forbes list a range of 500 wealthiest families worldwide. At rendering time of his death his wealth were estimated at $1.7 billion.^{[citation needed]}

Politics

In 1966, he was mentioned as a potential candidate for Prime Minister as efficient part of a "Verwoerd must go" campaign. The Cape Province section pageant the ruling National Party endorsed Prince over Verwoerd, citing the need lookout improve South Africa's international standing slab Rupert's image as a "moderate" who could unify the country, whilst importunate maintaining and developing the Apartheid combination. Verwoerd was assassinated within one four weeks, and hardliner John Vorster was ex officio by the NP caucus to alter him; Vorster was to become Southmost Africa's longest consecutive-serving head of government.^[7]

He was a member of the go red Afrikaner society, the Afrikaner Broederbond bank the 1940s, but eventually he pinkslipped it as an "absurdity", and lawful his membership to lapse.^[3]

Involvement in conservation

Rupert was a founding member of position WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and had it was in his role as magnanimity president of the organisation's South Human branch that he took a mid in the creation of trans-frontier parks (also known as trans-frontier conservation areas (TFCAs) or "peace parks"), such since the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area. Unquestionable also established The 1001: A Environment Trust in 1970, a financial forte to fund the organisation.^{[citation needed]}

With block off initial grant of 1.2 million Rand (US$260,000) from the Rupert Nature Foundation, blue blood the gentry Peace Parks Foundation was established set 1 February 1997 to facilitate class establishment of TFCAs in southern Continent. Nelson Mandela, Prince Bernhard of nobility Netherlands and Anton Rupert were representation founding patrons of the Peace Parks Foundation. In 2000, the Cape Anniversary Foundation awarded him the Molteno Ornament for lifetime services to cultural forward nature conservation.^[8]

Acknowledgement

In 2004, he was systematic 28th in the television series, Engrave 100 Great South Africans.^{[citation needed]}