Forbes, Bloomberg Billionaire Index Disagree On Who Is Africa’s Current Richest Man

Forbes Real-Time Billionaire Index and Bloomberg Billionaire Index which measures the wealth of the world’s richest people are currently at variance on who is Africa’s richest man.

Forbes real-time billionaire index says the Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has lost his position as Africa’s richest man.

Forbes index showed that Dangote has been displaced by South African businessman Johann Rupert and Family who now ranks 145th place globally and number one in Africa.

According to Forbes, Dangote’s wealth is currently $10.7bn, making him rank 171 positions in the world and second in Africa only behind Rupert.

South Africa’s Rupert is worth $12bn, as of Monday.

But the Bloomberg index showed that Dangote is still Africa’s richest man with a net worth of $16.8bn declining from over $20bn. He is ranked 101 places globally in Bloomberg’s Index.

Bloomberg says Rupert and family are worth $13.6bn and 137th place globally and second in Africa.

Dangote’s wealth fell due to the free float of the naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The currency which previously traded at N464 at the Investors’ and Exporters’ window fell to a height of N791 to the USD and closed on Friday at N663.04 against the dollar.

This has affected the valuation of the traded stocks of Dangote on the Nigerian Exchange Limited in dollar terms.

How Forbes’ and Bloomberg’s Real-Time Billionaires Ranking Works

Forbes track the “wealth-tracking platform provides ongoing updates on the net worth and ranking of each individual confirmed by Forbes to be a billionaire. The value of individuals’ public holdings are updated every 5 minutes when respective stock markets are open (there will be a 15-minute delay for stock prices).

“Individuals whose fortunes are significantly tied to private companies will have their net worths updated once a day. In cases where an individual owns a stake in a private company that accounts for 20% or more of his or her net worth, the value of the company will be adjusted according to an industry- or region-specific market index provided by our partners at FactSet Research Systems when available.

“A rotating cast of the five biggest winners and losers throughout the day is featured at the top of the page, followed by the complete list of billionaires ranked in order of net worth.”

Bloomberg said while calculating net worth, it considers dividend income paid and proceeds from the sale of public and closely held shares.

It deducts taxes based on prevailing income, dividend and capital gains tax rates in a billionaire’s country of residence.

It said, “The index is a dynamic measure of personal wealth based on changes in markets, the economy and Bloomberg reporting. Each net worth figure is updated every business day after the close of trading in New York. Stakes in publicly traded companies are valued using the share’s most recent closing price. Valuations are converted to U.S. dollars at current exchange rates.

“When ownership of closely held assets cannot be verified, they aren’t included in the calculations. The specific valuation methodology for each closely held company is included in the net worth analysis section of a billionaire’s profile. Additional details included in the valuation notes for each asset are available to subscribers of the Bloomberg Professional Service.

“A standard liquidity discount of 5 percent is applied to most closely held companies where assets may be hard to sell. When a different percentage is used an explanation is given. No liquidity discounts are applied to the values of public stakes. In some instances, a country risk discount is also applied based on a person’s concentration of assets and ease of selling them in a given geography. A country’s risk is assessed based on Standard & Poor’s sovereign debt ratings.

“If a billionaire has pledged as collateral shares he or she holds in a public company, the value of those shares or the value of a loan taken against them is removed from the net worth calculation. If reliable information can be obtained about the ultimate use of those borrowed funds, that value is added back into the calculation.”