![]() He and his brother Herbert partnered their adjoining claims with that of another claim holder Charles Rudd. From the outset he dreamed big, realizing that success lay in the amalgamation of diamond claims. When alluvial or river diggings proved dangerous during the rainy season, he imported a steam perated pump to maintain a level of dryness. His entrepreneurial spirit was on display right from the start. The South African discovery was destined to change that and Rhodes was determined to be at the vanguard of the newly evolving diamond industry. Till then diamonds had only been found in small quantities in India and Brazil and were the indulgence of kings and monarchs. Rhodes arrived in South Africa at an opportune time a diamond rush was on in the Klipdrift area. There he found not just the warm, dry weather he needed to combat his tubercular lung condition but also the means to a fortune in one of the world’s most spectacular precious stones. Though the Oppenheimers are the uncrowned royalty of the arcane diamond business today, the history of De Beers begins not with them but with the sickly son of an English vicar who fled to South Africa in 1870 in search of a more temperate climate. There are few parallels in other industries for the sheer dominance De Beers exercises within its domain. De Beers produces 40 percent of the world’s diamonds (in partnership with the governments of Botswana, Namibia and Tanzania as well as from its own mines in South Africa) and distributes 45 percent of the world’s rough diamonds through the Diamond Trading Corporation (DTC), its sales and marketing arm. As Nicky Oppenheimer stated in his Report to Shareholders for 2005/ 06: “It is important to me as Chairman that De Beers continues to consider responsibility alongside profits, and to interpret that responsibility within our widest sphere of influence.” It is striving to be more accountable not just to its shareholders but to its employees and the producer states and diamantaires that make up the glittering cartel. ![]() The present Chairman of De Beers, Nicky Oppenheimer, is the third generation Oppenheimer to lead the company (his father Harry and grandfather Ernest preceded him) and under his stewardship the firm seems to be redefining itself. It is the Central Holdings Group, the family company of the Oppenheimers, the world’s biggest diamond dynasty, that sits at the head of the table. De Beers is a privately held company with three major shareholders Anglo American Plc with a 45 percent stake, the Government of Botswana (15 percent) and the Central Holdings Group that owns the remaining 40 percent of the company. Employing more than 21,000 people in 25 countries across five continents, De Beers has established itself over the decades as the leader in the exploration, mining and marketing of rough diamonds. The company’s hegemony of the diamond industry has been unrivalled for over a century. Yet the magic and mystique it is imbued with has made De Beers, the world’s leading diamond supplier, a veritable goldmine with a net income in 2006 of $730 million on revenues of $6.15 billion. The diamond is – chemically- pure carbon. ![]() But can it overcome the growing dissidence among the ranks of producer nations and international diamantaires that make up this powerful cartel? For over a century, the South African company’s dominance of the international diamond industry has been wide and deep.
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