{"id":2330,"date":"2015-02-04T14:54:56","date_gmt":"2015-02-04T13:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buzzsouthafrica.com\/?p=2330"},"modified":"2021-04-19T21:25:45","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T20:25:45","slug":"richest-black-man-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buzzsouthafrica.com\/richest-black-man-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Patrice Motsepe Biography and Net Worth of The South African Billionaire"},"content":{"rendered":"
Patrice Motsepe is a South African mining billionaire business magnate who has a net worth of $3.1 billion. As of the time of this writing, Patrice Motsepe is the richest black man in South Africa<\/div><\/div>\n

Patrice who has been serving as the President of the Confederation of African Football since March 2021, was named South Africa’s richest man back in 2012, he also became the first black African to appear on the Forbes list in 2008<\/p>\n

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Profile Summary and Key Facts<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Name:<\/strong> Patrice Motsepe (Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe)
\nDate of Birth:<\/strong> 28 January 1962
\nPlace of Birth:<\/strong> Ga-Rankuwa, Pretoria
\nNationality:<\/strong> South African
\nNet Worth:<\/strong> $3.1 billion USD
\nSource of Net Worth:<\/strong> Mining and Other business investments
\nWife: <\/strong>Precious Moloi-Motsepe
\nChildren:<\/strong> 3<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

The idea of black wealth in South Africa is something that has raised a lot of eyebrows in the past and still seems to be doing so even today. The margin between the wealth of the white man and that of the black man is something that has been carefully kept and as such, there is this unspoken suspicion that a wealthy black man must be corrupt or else, he is a politician.<\/p>\n

Now despite all of these suspicions, there is no doubt that the average black man is a very hard-working person. More so, there are certain black people who have distinguished themselves through their various endeavours that have paid off beautifully. So we want to take a closer look at everything there is to know about the richest black man in South Africa.<\/p>\n

According to Forbes<\/a> and all clear statistics, the richest black man in South Africa is Patrice Motsepe. He is well-known to everyone owing to his many feats in business that has taken him to where he is today. He made his fortune from his investments in the mining business, sports, and various other sectors.<\/p>\n

Patrice Motsepe Was Born Into a Struggling Home<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Patrice
Patrice Motsepe, his wife, and kids (Image Source)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Patrice Motsepe was born on 28 January 1962, to Augustine Motsepe, a schoolteacher turned small businessman, who owned a Spaza shop popular with black mineworkers. He was named after Patrice Lumumba, an African independence leader and the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who fought tirelessly and helped his country to gain independence.<\/p>\n

Motsepe was not born with a silver spoon as his parents were ordinary struggling people just like many others in the South African country at the time. That, however, did not limit him in any way but rather pushed him into trying really hard to make a better life for himself and his family.<\/p>\n

And just like Lumumba, Motsepe took the little mining knowledge he got from his father and turned it into something that amazes people today. It was from his father’s Spaza shop that young Patrice learned some basic business principles and the mining skills that have made him a billionaire.<\/p>\n

As regards his education, the South African business tycoon was educated at a Roman Catholic boarding school in the \u00a0Eastern Cape province from where Patrice proceeded to obtain a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Swaziland and also a law degree from the University of the Witwatersrand.<\/p>\n

The South African billionaire is a brother-in-law to the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa as the latter is married to the former’s sister, Tshepo Motsepe. He is also the brother-in-law of the country’s former energy minister, Jeff Radebe who is also married to his sister, Bridgette Radebe. In the same way as Patrice, Bridgette is also a businesswoman who has also been involved in the mining business.<\/p>\n

His Legal Career And How He Became The First Black Partner<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"patrice-lumumba-bet\"<\/p>\n

Patrice started his career in 1988 with Bowman Gilfillan law firm. He also worked with an American law firm McGuire, Woods, Battle & Booth from 1991 to 1992 as a visiting attorney. After that, he moved back to South Africa where he continued working with Bowman Gilfillan.<\/p>\n

Because of his noticeable hard work in his chosen field, he was chosen to be the first black partner in Bowman Gilfillan as far back as 1994. Knowing that Bowman Gilfillan Inc. is one of the biggest and most prestigious law firms in South Africa, it was obviously not easy to have made a partner when he was only 32 years old.<\/p>\n

The Mining Career of Patrice Motsepe And His Path To Wealth<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As soon as the apartheid period was over and the law firm was finally reorganized to meet the needs of the time, Motsepe decided to leave and put his efforts towards building his business, taking advantage of the government’s effort at supporting and promoting black businesses. He founded a company called Future Mining which served to provide contract mining services that include the cleaning of mine shafts and implementing a worker remuneration system.<\/p>\n

In 1997, when the prices of gold fell in the international market, he took advantage of the window and jumped into the business with a full force. He bought gold mines from AngloGold for $7.7 million, which was a great deal for him as he was allowed to finish paying up the debts from the earnings he would make in the future. The idea for AngloGold was to sell off shafts that were already old and low in production. Nonetheless, Patrice who had already read so much about the mining business saw the opportunity this presented.<\/p>\n

Once the gold mines were offered for sale, he decided to found the African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) through which he would later buy the mines. Initially, he did not have the needed money to buy the mines and banks were not ready to offer him a loan as a black man had never owned gold mines and he was coming rather new in the big business. More so, they felt the only reason why AngloGold wanted selling was that the mines were not profitable anymore.<\/p>\n

It was at this time that one man, Bobby Godsell stepped in, seeing the strong spirit of Patrice and believing in his dreams. Godsell was the Chief Executive of AngloGold and uranium division. He decided to partner up with the young black man and come up with a favorable payment plan that was agreed upon by AngloGold.<\/p>\n

Initially, it was not easy for him as the market got even worse so much that he was forced to cut short on his staff by downsizing. Nonetheless, in only three years, he was able to pay off his debts and get the business growing into one of the largest mining companies in the African continent.<\/p>\n

Other Business Involvements of Patrice Motsepe<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Patrice Motsepe and Donald Trump (Image Source<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Apart from being a lawyer and being involved in the mining business, Patrice Motsepe has many other business investments to his name. He has invested in the sports business in South Africa; he is the owner of the South African\u00a0Premier League soccer club, Mamelodi Sundowns F.C.and he has a significant stake in Blue Bulls Rugby Union. He is also a major shareholder in Blue Bulls Co.<\/p>\n

The mining magnate is the first African to sign Bill Gates’ and Warren Buffet’s giving pledge where he promised to give away half his fortune to charity. Very chivalrous.<\/p>\n

He has served on a number of important boards and has been involved in many businesses in the following capacities:<\/strong><\/p>\n