South African Only Black Billionaire Donates Half His Wealth to Charity

When South African only black billionaire Patrice Motsepe announced that he would be making an important announcement, the speculation was that he would be buying himself some newspapers.

As it turns out, Motsepe's announcement was of a different sort.
The beneficiary will be the Motsepe Foundation, which was founded in 1999 by the African Rainbow Minerals chairman and his wife, Precious. It oversees the philanthropic work done by the family, which includes education and health; the development and upliftment of women, youth, workers and the disabled; churches; the development of entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs; rural and urban upliftment; soccer including youth soccer development and music.

"I decided quite some time ago to give at least half of the funds generated by our family assets to uplift poor and other disadvantaged and marginalised South Africans, but was also duty-bound and committed to ensuring that it would be done in a way that protects the interests and retains the confidence of our shareholders and investors," Motsepe said.

According to Forbes, Motsepe's net worth stood at $2.65 billion (£1.67bn) in November 2012. ARM, the company he founded and chairs had a market cap of R43.47 billion at the time of the give-away announcement.

It isn't clear when the donation will happen, but it is understood that it will happen soon.