Johann Rupert (South Africa): Dependable as a Swiss watch

Duking it out with the Oppenheimer family for the number one position on South Africa’s rich list, Johann Rupert is not one to blow his own trumpet nor seek the media spotlight. In this respect, he perfectly mirrors the mores of the Swiss group he chairs, a company that comes off as less bling-bling than its cross-border rivals LVMH and Kering – as befits Swiss tradition.

However, a cursory glance at the brands in Richemont’s portfolio reveals that there is plenty of dazzle here too: Cartier, Montblanc, Piaget and, until recent years, Lancel.

Thick skin and stickability
Known on the global stage thanks to Richemont, Johann Rupert also owns 7% and 25% of investment companies Remgro and Reinet respectively (the former based in his homeland). Nicknamed Rupert the Bear, after the British children’s literature character, his imposing figure and supposed grumpy nature have no doubt helped it stick.

Known for his cautious, some might say pessimistic, approach to investment, notably when it comes to the vagaries of the stock market, rivals accuse the 72-year-old of having a stranglehold over the activities of Richemont. Activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners (which has a stake of less than 1% in Richemont) has urged the Swiss regulator to force Richemont to be more transparent and publish details of the succession plan agreed upon by the board, as mentioned by Rupert in a recent interview with a leading Swiss financial newspaper.  

The London-based investment management firm has also pushed for Richemont to bring in former Bulgari chief and ex-boss of Bluebell, Francesco Trapani, as an administrator (and counterbalance to the power of the South African). This notion was dismissed out of hand by Richemont’s shareholders, who remain loyal to their chairman, a significant setback for Bluebell after they succeeded in ousting Danone CEO Emmanuel Faber in a previous activist push.

Paternal instincts
Born in Stellenbosch, in the suburbs of Cape Town, Johann Rupert studied economics and corporate law at university, before landing at Chase Manhatten Bank in New York, after which he had a stint at Lazard Frères. In 1977, he returned home to form Rand Merchant Bank, which is still going strong four decades later.

Rupert’s taste for business he inherited from his father, Anton, who started out in the wine and tobacco trade in 1948 with his company Rembrandt, which subsequently branched out into other sectors of the South African economy.

Rembrandt got into the luxury goods game thanks to the young Johann who, while still in the Big Apple, convinced his father to invest in French jeweler Cartier. At the behest of his father, Johann joined the family business in 1985, and one of his first steps was to split the firm’s South African assets from its foreign ones to limit the damage of international sanctions targeting the practice of Apartheid: the former would belong to Remgro, the latter gave birth to Richemont in 1988.

Despite Rupert’s low profile, his contribution to France was rewarded with the Legion of Honour in 2009, for his role as an invaluable ambassador for the French luxury products made by Cartier, Chloé and Lancel, among others.

Rupert’s services to his own nation are of an altogether less capitalist kind. He is the chairman of the board of directors of Peace Parks Foundation, an organization dedicated to the preservation of ecosystems in the south of Africa, which he founded with Nelson Mandela. Like the legendary South African president, Rupert is also a passionate believer in the transformative power of sport as a tool of inclusion and integration in his homeland.