South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe has surpassed Zimbabwean billionaire, Strive Masiyiwa to become the richest Black businessman in Southern Africa, with a net worth of US$3.1 billion, while Masiyiwa’s net worth fell to US$2.7 billion.
The development comes after Masiyiwa has lost over half a billion dollars as a result of a drop in the value of his stake in Econet Wireless Zimbabwe (Econet Zimbabwe) on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) in less than a month.
This is happening not long after Masiyiwa’s net worth rose by US$1.7-billion above the US$4-billion mark earlier this year.
Billionaires Africa reports that the market value of Masiyiwa’s stake in Econet Zimbabwe dropped by $201 billion (US$624.2 million) in the past 28 days due to a sustained sell-off of shares on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE).
Masiyiwa owns a 52.85-per cent equity position in Econet Zimbabwe, which is part of Econet Group, a 22-year-old diversified telecom company with operations and investments in Africa, Europe, South America, and East Asia.
The trend:
a). Econet’s share price reached an all-time high of $331.72 (US$1.03) on April 27,
b). the share price began to drop by more than 44 per cent to $184.88 (US$0.57415).
c). The market value of Masiyiwa’s shareholding fell from $454.1 billion (US$1.41 billion) on April 27 to $253.1 million (US$785.9 million). As a result, the leading billionaire has lost $201 billion (US$624.2 million) in the past 28 days.
Despite the recent drop in the value of its shares, Econet Zimbabwe remains the most valuable stock on the ZSE, with a market capitalization of $479 billion (US$1.48 billion), accounting for about 16.1 per cent of the total capitalization on the bourse.