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Oppenheimer Family
The Oppenheimer family is an Anglo–South African family best known for its longtime control of Anglo American and De Beers. Ernest Oppenheimer, a German immigrant to Britain and later to South Africa, founded the Anglo American Corporation in 1917 to mine the Witwatersrand for gold. He took control of De Beers in 1929 and became its chairman the same year, followed by his son Harry Oppenheimer in 1957 and his grandson Nicky Oppenheimer in 1998. In 2011, the family sold its remaining 40 per cent stake in De Beers to Anglo American for $5.1 billion in cash. By that time the family's equity in Anglo American had fallen below 2 per cent. The Oppenheimer family residence is the Brenthurst Estate in Parktown, Johannesburg. Family members * Bernard Oppenheimer (1866–1921) * Ernest Oppenheimer (1880–1957) ** Harry Oppenheimer (1908–2000) *** Mary Slack (born 1943) *** Nicky Oppenheimer (born 1945) ** Frank Leslie Oppenheimer (1910–1935) * Otto Oppenheimer (1882–19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anglo American Plc
Anglo American plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational mining company with headquarters in London, England. It is the world's largest producer of platinum, with around 40% of world output, as well as being a major producer of diamonds, copper, nickel, iron ore, polyhalite and steelmaking coal. The company has operations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America. Anglo American has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The company has a secondary listing on the JSE Limited, Johannesburg Stock Exchange. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, ''Forbes'' Global 2000, Anglo American was ranked as the 274th largest public company in the world. History 1917–1990 Ernest Oppenheimer, a Jewish German émigré, founded the Anglo American Corporation (AAC) in 1917 in Johannesburg, South Africa, with financial backing from the American bank J.P. Morgan & Co. and £1 million raised from UK and US ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De Beers
The De Beers Group is a South African–British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial and coastal mining. It operates in 35 countries, with mining taking place in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Canada. It also has an artisanal mining business, Gemfair, which operates in Sierra Leone. From its inception in 1888 until the start of the 21st century, De Beers controlled 80% to 85% of rough diamond distribution and was considered a monopoly. By 2000, the company's control of the world diamond supply decreased to 63%. The company was founded in 1888 by British businessman Cecil Rhodes, who was financed by the South African diamond magnate Alfred Beit and the London-based N M Rothschild & Sons bank. In 1926, Ernest Oppenheimer, a German immigrant to Britain and later South Africa who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernest Oppenheimer
Sir Ernest Oppenheimer (22 May 1880 – 25 November 1957) was a South African diamond and gold mining entrepreneur, financier and philanthropist, who controlled De Beers and founded the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa. Career Ernest Oppenheimer was born in Friedberg, German Empire, to a German-Jewish family. He was the son of Edward Oppenheimer, a cigar merchant, and his wife, Nanette (née Hirschhorn) Oppenheimer. He began his working life at 17, when he entered Dunkelsbuhler & Company, a diamond brokerage in London. His efforts impressed his employer and in 1902, at the age of 22, he was sent to South Africa to represent the company as a buyer in Kimberley, of which he went on to become the mayor from 1912 to 1915. In this role, he helped raise the manpower for the Kimberley Regiment for service during World War I. He became great friends with William Lincoln Honnold, an American engineer and chairman of Transvaal Coal Trust, Brakpan Mines, Springs Mines and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anglo American Corporation
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British descent in Anglo-America, the Anglophone Caribbean, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. It is used in Canada to differentiate between Francophone Canadians, located mainly in Quebec but found across Canada, and Anglophone Canadians, also located across Canada, including in Quebec. It is also used in the United States to distinguish the Hispanic and Latino population from the non-Hispanic white majority. Anglo is a Late Latin prefix used to denote ''English-'' in conjunction with another toponym or demonym. The word is derived from Anglia, the Latin name for England and still used in the modern name for its eastern region, East Anglia. It most likely refers to the Angles, a Germanic people originating in the north German peninsula o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witwatersrand
The Witwatersrand (, ; ; locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which account for the name Witwatersrand, meaning 'white water ridge' in Afrikaans.Truswell, J.F. (1977). ''The Geological Evolution of South Africa''. pp. 21, 27–28, 33–36. Cape Town: Purnell. This east-west-running scarp can be traced with only one short gap, from Bedfordview (about west of O.R. Tambo International Airport) in the east, through Johannesburg and Roodepoort, to Krugersdorp in the west (see the diagram at left below).Norman, N.; Whitfield, G. (2006) ''Geological Journeys''. pp. 38–49, 60–61. Cape Town: Struik Publishers. The scarp forms the northern edge of a plateau (or ridge) which rises about above the surrounding plains of the Highveld. A number of picturesque Johannesburg suburbs, including Observatory, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Oppenheimer
Harry Frederick Oppenheimer OMSG (28 October 1908 – 19 August 2000) was a prominent South African businessman, industrialist and philanthropist. Oppenheimer was often ranked as one of the wealthiest people in the world, and was considered South Africa's foremost industrialist for four decades. In 2004 he was voted 60th in the SABC3's Great South Africans. Early life and education He was born in Kimberley, on 28 October 1908 to Jewish parents, May (née Pollak; 1886–1934), and Ernest Oppenheimer (1880 -1957). His paternal grandparents and maternal grandmother were German Jews, whereas his maternal grandfather was Czech Jewish from Mikulov.His parents married in London in a Jewish ceremony in the Reform tradition. His '' Brit Milah'' was performed by Rabbi Harris Isaacs of the Griqualand West Jewish Congregation.Feinberg, Tali (29 June 2023)Oppenheimer’s Jewish facet shines brightly''The South African Jewish Report''. Retrieved on 11 February 2025 He spent his first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicky Oppenheimer
Nicholas F. Oppenheimer (born 8 June 1945) is a South African billionaire businessman. He was formerly the chairman of De Beers diamond mining company and of its subsidiary, the Diamond Trading Company, and former deputy chairman of Anglo American. He is the third richest man in Africa with an estimated net worth of US$12.3 Billion as of 2025 according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Early life Born on 8 June 1945 in Johannesburg, Oppenheimer is the son of Bridget (née McCall) and Harry Oppenheimer, and grandson of Anglo American founder Ernest Oppenheimer (the first generation to chair De Beers, from 1929). His father was of German Jewish descent. He was educated at Ludgrove School, Harrow School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics, earning an Oxford MA. Business career Oppenheimer joined Anglo American in 1968, was appointed a director in 1974, then became deputy chairman in 1983. He resigned in 2001, remaining a non-executive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brenthurst Estate
The mansions of Parktown (a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa) are an important part of the history of the city of Johannesburg. They were the homes of the Randlords, accountants, military personnel and other influential residents of early Johannesburg, dating back as early as the 1890s. The first of these mansions, ''Hohenheim'' was designed by Frank Emley and was built for Sir Lionel Phillips and his wife Lady Florence Phillips. The name Hohenheim had been used originally by Hermann Eckstein, one of the first Rand Lords to name his house after the place of his own birth. When Phillips became the head of Eckstein & Co, he moved in to Eckstein's house but due to the expansion of the city decided to build the new Hohenheim in an enviable site further from the mine workings. Sir Lionel Phillips was banished from the Republic for his involvement in the Jameson Raid. It is perhaps fitting that the next occupant of this famous house was none other than Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parktown, Johannesburg
Parktown is a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, and is the first suburb north of the inner city (both chronologically and geographically). It is affectionately known as one of the Parks, others including Parkview, Parkwood, Westcliff, Parktown North, Parkhurst and Forest Town. Parktown is one of Johannesburg's largest suburbs, neighbouring Hillbrow, Braamfontein and Milpark to the South; Berea and Houghton to the East; Killarney and Forest Town to the North, and Westcliff, Melville and Richmond to the West. Originally established by the Randlords in the 1890s, Parktown is now home to many businesses, hospitals, schools, churches and restaurants, whilst still maintaining quiet residential areas. It is also home to three of the five campuses of the University of the Witwatersrand including the education campus, medical school and Wits Business School. It is located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Nadine Gordimer (1923 - 201 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernard Oppenheimer
Sir Bernard Oppenheimer, 1st Baronet (13 February 1866 – 13 June 1921) was a South African-United Kingdom, British diamond merchant and philanthropist. Business and philanthropy Oppenheimer was chairman of Pniel's Ltd, the New Vaal River Diamond & Exploration Company, and Blaauwbosch Diamonds Ltd, and managing director of Lewis & Marks Ltd of Holborn. His brother, Ernest Oppenheimer, Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, was also heavily involved in the diamond industry. In July 1917, Oppenheimer established a scheme for training disabled soldiers in diamond cutting at Brighton, England. The Bernard Oppenheimer Diamond Works (National Diamond Factories Ltd) opened on the north side of Coombe Road at the junction of Lewes Road, Brighton, Lewes Road on 17 May 1918. It was mainly paid for by Oppenheimer himself and by Lewis & Marks. In 1920 it also opened branches in Cambridge, Wrexham and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. By 1921 the works, including a second building on the opposite side o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Slack
Mary Slack (; born December 1943) is a South African businesswoman and philanthropist. The daughter of Harry Oppenheimer, she is a former chairperson of the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust and the former managing director of the Market Theatre. She is also active in horse racing and breeding and owns the Wilgerbosdrift stud farm in Piketberg, Western Cape. Biography Slack was educated at the Healthfield School, where she was head girl, and the Sorbonne University. She is one of two children of Anglo American magnate Harry Oppenheimer and his wife Bridget. Though her younger brother Nicky has a more prominent role in managing the family's business interests, she has equal voting rights with him and reportedly influenced the family's decision to sell De Beers to Anglo American in 2011. Slack's own business interests have included an investment company called Wiphold, which she co-founded, and Amaridian, an art gallery in SoHo, New York. Slack became a trustee of the Oppenheime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto Oppenheimer
Otto Oppenheimer (1882–1948) was a British diamond dealer, who ran the London end of the De Beers company for his brother Sir Ernest Oppenheimer. He was the son of Eduard Oppenheimer, a cigar merchant, and his wife Nanette "Nanny" Hirschhorn. His son was Sir Philip Oppenheimer. References Bibliography * The Rise and Fall of Diamonds by Edward Jay Epstein. (1982) * Industrial Diamond review volume 40.(1980) * The Diamond Invention by Edward Jay Epstein. (1982) * Glitter and Greed by Janine Farrallel Robert * West African Diamonds 1919-1983; An economic history by Peter Greenhalgh (1985) 1882 births 1948 deaths Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ... Merchants from London Diamond dealers 20th-century English businesspeople {{England-bio-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
