Jonathan M. E. Oppenheimer (born 18 November 1969) is a South African

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

businessman and conservationist, and the executive chairman of Oppenheimer Generations, a former executive of

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-pi ...

and a former vice-president of his family's firm,

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 ...

Early life

Jonathan is the son of former De Beers chairman

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 Ame ...

; he is the great-grandson of Anglo-American founder

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 Ern ...

, who was the first generation of the family to chair (from 1929) the De Beers diamond mining company in South Africa, founded by

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes ( ; 5 July 185326 March 1902) was an English-South African mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. He and his British South Africa Company founded th ...

in 1888. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

and Christ Church,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for

Oxford University Cricket Club Oxford University Cricket Club (OUCC), which represents the University of Oxford, had held first-class status since 1827 when it made its debut in the inaugural University Match between OUCC and Cambridge University Cricket Club (CUCC). Follo ...

Career

Jonathan Oppenheimer began his career working at

N M Rothschild & Sons Rothschild & Co SCA is a multinational private and alternative assets investor, headquartered in Paris, France and London, United Kingdom. It is the flagship of the Rothschild banking group controlled by the British and French branches of the Rot ...

, then moved to Anglo American, where he became senior vice-president, in 1999. After leaving Anglo American in 2000, he filled numerous senior roles at

diamond mining company in Southern Africa and London until 2012. He was the third generation of his family to lead De Beers. He was also involved in the transactions to de-list De Beers, in 2001, and to sell the Oppenheimer family stake to Anglo American, in 2012. This sale concluded 85 years of the Oppenheimer family's controlling position in the world's diamond trade. He is currently the director of E. Oppenheimer & Son Ltd. In 2003, Jonathan and Nicky Oppenheimer published The Brenthurst Initiative, a policy paper on economic development across South Africa. This led to the launch of The Brenthurst Foundation the following year. Alongside his father he founded Oppenheimer Generations, with interests in various companies and non-profits such as the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance. As Executive Chairman of Oppenheimer Generations, Jonathan is actively involved in all aspects of the family’s private, commercial, and thought leadership activities, including: Oppenheimer Partners, Oppenheimer Generations Asia, Nianova, Shangani Holistic, the Brenthurst Foundation, Oppenheimer Generations Foundation, Oppenheimer Generations – Research & Conservation.

Other activities

Oppenheimer has been involved in many aspects of his family’s activities, including establishing the Brenthurst Foundation, a

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

-based

think-tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

which examines ways to drive Africa's

sustainable growth Sustainable development is an approach to growth and human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General Assembly (1987)''Report of th ...

, and the formation of Tana Africa Capital, a joint venture between the Oppenheimer family and

Temasek Holdings Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited ( ) is a Singaporean State ownership, state-owned multinational investment firm. Incorporated on 25 June 1974, Temasek has a net portfolio of US$288 billion (S$389 billion) as of 2024. Headquartered at Orchard ...

(Singapore) to pursue African consumer goods business opportunities. He has sat on boards and advisory panels, including the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Economy (Malawi), established by the Brenthurst Foundation, and

Umicore Umicore N.V., known as ''Union Minière'' before 2001, is a Belgian-French multinational materials technology company headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. It was formed in 1989 by the merger of four companies in the mining and smelting industri ...

, a listed specialty chemicals company, as a non-executive director. Oppenheimer purchased

Tswalu Kalahari Reserve The Tswalu Kalahari Reserve is a privately owned game reserve in the Northern Cape, South Africa. It is South Africa's largest private game reserve, covering an area of over 111,000 hectares. History The Tswalu Game Reserve in the Southern Kal ...

, immediately ended hunting, and improved conditions for wild animals found there.

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named th ...

recognized Oppenheimer's conservation work in 2007. In January 2018, Jonathan joined the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP). On 23 March 2020 Nicky and Jonathan Oppenheimer announced their commitment to tackle the unfolding health crisis in South Africa, and highlighted the exceptional challenges that small businesses were facing. They pledged to donate R1 billion to extend a financial lifeline to employees of small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs). On 31 March 2020 the South African Future Trust (SAFT) was established with this initial donation through the Oppenheimer Generations Foundation, and it has subsequently attracted further donations from foundations, corporates and individuals to the value of just over R134 million. The Trust’s immediate aim was to extend direct financial support to SMME employees at risk of losing their jobs or suffering serious loss of income due to the pandemic and subsequent national lockdown.

Personal life

Oppenheimer was married to Jennifer Ward until her death in 2017. He has three children. In 2022 Jonathan re-married.

References

External links

AfDB Speakers: Jonathan OppenheimerBrenthurst Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oppenheimer, Jonathan 1969 births Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford South African mining businesspeople Living people Jonathan People educated at Harrow School South African billionaires South African Anglicans South African people of German-Jewish descent Oxford University cricketers Carnegie Endowment for International Peace