Patrice Motsepe was born to Kgosi Augustine Motsepe, chief of the Macau branch of the Tswana people, who had previously been a schoolteacher and who was later a small businessman as the owner of a Spaza shop which was popular with black mine workers. It was from this shop that Motsepe learned basic business principles from his father, as well as first-hand exposure to mining.
Is Patrice Motsepe a billionaire or millionaire?
Patrice Motsepe is a South African billionaire who has made a fortune estimated by Forbes to be in the region of US$ 2.6 billion. His fortune has come from investments in the mining industry through a company he founded in 1997 called African Rainbow Minerals Limited.
Popular business journal African Business ran a report where Aliko Dangote claimed then that his personal fortune was in the region of US$ 17 billion. Forbes may have recognized Motsepe in 2008 as the first black billionaire however, Aliko Dangote was always a billionaire even before Motsepe became one.
Patrice Motsepe has always come first or be the first at almost everything. The accolade by Forbes for being the first black African to have a personal fortune of at least US$ 1 billion is but one of many. Motsepe, who is a lawyer y training was the first black individual to be promoted to become a partner at the prestigious South African law firm Bowman & Gilfillan shortly after South Africa became a democracy in 1994