Dr Johann Rupert is the chairman and chief executive of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA and chairman of South African-based companies Remgro Limited and VenFin Limited.

He founded Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) in 1979 and in the same year started the Small Business Development Corporation. In 1984, he merged RMB and Rand Consolidated Investments and was appointed executive director of the Rembrandt Group, in 1985.

Dr Rupert’s illustrious career provided him with numerous accolades. He was elected “Businessman of the Year” by the Sunday Times in 1988, “Business Leader of the Year” by Die Burger and the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce in 1990, one of 200 “Global Leaders of Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, in 1993, and he received the M S Louw Award from the Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut in 1994.

In 1996, he was again elected as “Businessman of the Year” by the Sunday Times, awarded the Free Market Award by the Free Market Foundation of South Africa in 1999 and in 2007 received the ATKV Prestige Award for his patronage of the Afrikaans language and for his international and national contribution to business.

Dr Rupert was awarded honorary Doctorates in Commerce by the University of Stellenbosch in 2004 and by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in 2008.

For more information on the lecture visit http://www.antonrupertmemoriallecture.com.