Dr Anton Rupert passes away
South African entrepreneur and founder of Richemont Dr. Anton Rupert died on January 18 at his home in He was also a keen conservationist and was a founding member of the World Wildlife Fund. The Rupert family is also involved in the South African wine industry. It owns the L'Ormarins and La Motte wine estates and has a stake in Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons and controls two of the country’s largest wine merchants. The Rupert Group also owns a chain of private hospitals.
Dr Rupert leaves a son and daughter; his wife Huberte died in October 2005.
Born on October 4, 1916, Dr Rupert began his successful career with an initial investment of £10 when he began hand rolling cigarettes in his garage, this grew to become tobacco and industrial conglomerate Rembrandt which in turn became Rothmans. Moving into the luxury goods segment Dr Rupert split his company into Remgro (an investment company) and Richemont, the Swiss-based luxury goods group, which also owns brands such as Cartier; Alfred Dunhill and Sulka (designer clothing); Seeger; Piaget, Baume & Mercier and Vacheron Constantin and Montblanc.
"Not only will he be remembered for his business acumen, but also for his total devotion to nature and environmental conservation as shown by his immense contribution to the establishment of numerous Transfrontier Parks. A true philanthropist," President Mbeki said.
