death_place death_date birth_place networth nationality birth_date spouse article_title name occupation alma_mater
stellenbosch , western cape , south africa 18 january 2006 graaff-reinet , eastern cape , south africa us south african 4 october 1916 huberte anton rupert
 anton rupert businessman , conservationist , philanthropist university of pretoria
anton rupert

anthony edward rupert -lrb- 4 october 1916 -- 18 january 2006 -rrb- was a south african billionaire businessman , philanthropist , and conservationist .
he was born and raised in the small town of graaff-reinet in the eastern cape .
he studied in pretoria and ultimately moved to stellenbosch , where he established the rembrandt group and where it still has its headquarters .
he died in his sleep at his home in thibault street , stellenbosch at the age of 89 , and is survived by a son johann , a daughter hanneli and five grandchildren .
his wife and his youngest son , anthonij , pre-deceased him .
in 1966 , he was mentioned as a possible candidate for prime minister as a part of a `` verwoerd must go '' campaign .
the cape province section of the ruling national party endorsed rupert over verwoerd , citing the need to improve south africa 's international standing and rupert 's image as a `` moderate '' who could unify the country .
verwoerd was assassinated within one month , and hardliner john vorster was endorsed by the np caucus to replace him ; he was to become south africa 's longest consecutive-serving head of government .
according to his biography , rupert 's business career spanned over sixty years .
he started his global empire with a personal investment of just # 10 in 1941 becoming named on the forbes list of 500 wealthiest families worldwide .
at the time of his death his assets were estimated at $ 1.7 billion .
after dropping out of medical school due to a lack of funds , rupert earned a chemistry degree at the university of pretoria , where he also lectured for a short while .
subsequently , he started a dry-cleaning business .
some time later , with an initial investment of gbp 10 and together with two fellow investors , he started manufacturing cigarettes in his garage , which he eventually built into the tobacco and industrial conglomerate rembrandt group , overseeing its transition to the industrial and luxury branded goods sectors , with rembrandt eventually splitting into remgro -lrb- an investment company with financial , mining and industrial interests -rrb- and richemont -lrb- a swiss-based luxury goods group -rrb- .
currently , this business empire encompasses hundreds of companies located in 35 countries on six continents , with combined yearly net sales in the region of us$ 10 billion .
rupert had also been deeply involved in environmental conservation and his companies have been prominent in funding the fine arts ; since 1964 foundations established by rembrandt have used a part of the group 's profits for the promotion of education , art , music and the preservation of historical buildings .
he also played an important role in the south african small business development corporation -lrb- sbdc -rrb- , a non-profit company whose loans to small and medium-sized businesses have created nearly half a million jobs since 1981 .
being openly critical of the apartheid system during that era , both at home and abroad , he has recently been quoted by president thabo mbeki as the man who called upon the apartheid leadership to `` do something brave '' and create partnership with the black majority in the '80s .
in 2004 , he was voted 28th in the top 100 great south africans .
