Isabel dos Santos Husband, Children, Parents, Net Worth of Angola’s Richest Woman

Gone are the days when all African women would bear children, raise them, take care of their husbands and generally run the home front. Many of them had no formal education and were less expressive. Today’s African woman is strong, daring, enterprising and is among the world’s leading figures, appearing in all walks of life, and they are even among the richest in the world. This was not available a few decades ago.

One of those African women we’re proud of is Angola’s Isabel dos Santos, whose name is making headlines not just in her country but across the continent. Isabel dos Santos was recently named the richest woman in Africa by Forbes.

But who is she really and what industry got her to where she is? You will find answers to all these and other questions below.

See Also: Forbes: Top 10 Richest Writers In The World [2017]

Bio/Early Life

Isabel dos Santos is the eldest daughter of Angola’s former president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who resigned in autumn 2017. Born on April 20, 1973 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, she attended Kent Girls’ Boarding School, Cobham Hall for High School and King’s College, London, where she studied Electrical Engineering.

career

In the early 1990s, Isabel dos Santos returned from London to her father in Luanda. She was employed by a German recycling company. In addition to her work, she started a trucking business. Then the development of a walkie-talkie system gave way to her subsequent exploration of the telecommunications industry. In 1997, at the age of 24, she opened the Miami Beach Club, one of the first nightclubs and beach restaurants on the island of Luanda. During a period of almost 20 years, she continuously expanded her business interests. This has led her to establish multiple holdings in companies in the following sectors: Telecom, Media, Retail, Finance and Energy, both in Angola and Portugal. In addition to her commercial interests in oil and diamonds, Isabel dos Santos also owns shares in the Angolan cement company Nova Cimangola. It also has a 28.8% stake in the Portuguese media group Zon Multimedia.

In 2012, Isabel Dos Santos was given the Lifetime Achievement Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence in Africa from the Millenium Excellence Foundation. In December 2014 she was named “African Woman of the Year” by the Togolese magazine Africa Top Success.

In 2016 her father (as president at the time) made her head of Sonangol, Angola’s state oil company, but Angola’s new president fired her from that position in November 2017. She is currently President of the Angola Red Cross.

Wealth (income and earnings)

With an estimated net worth of $2.6 billion, Isabel dos Santos has been named the richest woman in Angola and across Africa by Forbes.

However, there were some arguments as to how, even in a war-torn country like Angola, she managed to amass so much wealth. There are also some baseless allegations against them. One of those allegations is that she made her fortune by buying stakes in companies looking to do business in Angola and has described her fortune as “kleptocratic”.

But after thorough research by Forbes, when Isabel discovered that her father had interests in several Angolan companies, including banks and a telecom company, her wealth was also due to buying stakes in Portuguese companies, including telecom and cable TV company Nos SGPS. A spokeswoman for Isabel said she is an independent businesswoman and a private investor acting only on her own behalf.

Her recent holdings and holdings include:

  • Unitel International Holdings BV: rebranding of Amsterdam-based Kento and Jadeium, corporate vehicle for Isabel dos Santos’ telecom investment (25%)
  • Santoro Finance: corporate vehicle for Isabel dos Santos’ stake in Banco BPI in Lisbon (19.5%)
  • Angola’s Banco BIC (42.5%)
  • Esperanza: headquarters in Amsterdam, energy, oil, etc.
  • Condis: a retail company based in Luanda (51%)

Isabel dos Santos’ husband, children

Isabel dos Santos is married to a Congolese art collector and businessman Sindika Dokolo. Mr. Dokolo owns one of the most important contemporary African art collections on the continent. The couple has been married since 2002 and is blessed with 3 children.

See also: Everything you need to know about Nigeria’s richest woman aged 65 [Photos]

Their parents

As previously mentioned, Isabel dos Santos is the daughter of Angola’s longtime former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, whom he had with his first wife Tatiana Kukanova. The couple met while Jose was studying in the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan.

You May Also Like

Teresa Giudice’s Net Worth, Biography, Career, Awards, Fact and Life Story

Teresa Giudice Net Worth: Teresa Giudice is a reality television star and author who has a net worth of $500 thousand. Giudice rose to fame as a cast member on the Bravo reality show “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” (2009–present). Teresa and her husband Joe Giudice have both served time in jail. She served 11 months in prison for fraud in 2015. In 2011 they filed for bankruptcy, listing $11 million worth of debt.Outside of “The Real Housewives”, Teresa has appeared on shows like “Live With Regis and Kelly,” “Rachael Ray,” “The Wendy Williams Show,” and “Good Morning America.” Teresa competed on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” (2010) and “Celebrity Apprentice” (2012). She had an uncredited role in the film “Donnie Brasco” and guest-starred on a 2009 episode of the NBC medical drama “Mercy.” Giudice has graced the covers of several magazines, including “People,” “Life & Style,” and “Us Weekly,” and she has blogged for People.com and Bravotv.com. A “New York Times” best-selling author, Teresa has published seven books: “Skinny Italian: Eat It and Enjoy It — Live La Bella Vita and Look Great, Too!” (2010), “Fabulicious!: Teresa’s Italian Family Cookbook” (2011), “Fabulicious!: Fast & Fit: Teresa’s Low-Fat, Super-Easy Italian Recipes” (2012), “Fabulicious!: On the Grill: Teresa’s Smoking Hot Backyard Recipes ” (2013), “Turning the Tables: From Housewife to Inmate and Back Again” (2016), and “Standing Strong” (2017).Early Life: Teresa Giudice was born Teresa Gorga on May 18, 1972, in Paterson, New Jersey. Her parents, Giacinto and Antonia, immigrated to America from Sala Consilina, Italy. Teresa has a brother, Giuseppe (also known as Joe), and her sister-in-law, Melissa, has been one of her “Real Housewives” castmates since the show’s third season. Giudice grew up in a Roman Catholic household and earned a degree in Fashion Marketing and Management from Berkeley College. After college, Teresa worked as an associate buyer at Macy’s.Career: In 2009, Teresa and her then-husband, Joe, joined the cast of the Bravo reality series “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.” Giudice is the only one of the Housewives to appear in every season of the show, and in October 2015, she starred in a three-episode spin-off called “Teresa Checks In,” which focused on the Giudice family after Teresa was sentenced to prison. She was reportedly paid $62,000 per episode during the show’s tenth season. Giudice created her own line of wines (Fabellini Wines) and haircare (Milania Hair Care), and her fashion line, TG Fabulicious, features clothing and accessories with phrases like “Happy wife, happy life” and “Love, love, love.” In 2012, she came in fifth place on “Celebrity Apprentice,” raising $70,000 for The NephCure Foundation, and she has served on the committee for the children’s charity Project Ladybug, which was founded by her “Real Housewives” co-star Dina Manzo. In May 2017, Teresa opened a restaurant in East Hanover, New Jersey, with her brother and sister-in-law; Gorga’s Homemade Pasta & Pizza closed in January 2018. Giudice began practicing yoga during her time in prison, and after her release, she became a certified yoga teacher.Legal Troubles/Bankruptcy: In 2009, Joe and Teresa filed for bankruptcy. In their filing, they claimed to be more than $11 million in debt, and they were forced to auction off many of their household items and put their mansion up for sale.In July 2013, both Joe and Teresa were indicted with 39 counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, bankruptcy fraud, and making false statements on loan applications, and they pleaded not guilty the following month.In March 2014, the Giudices pleaded guilty to 41 counts of fraud after making a deal with federal prosecutors. Teresa received a sentence of 15 months in prison, and Joe’s sentence was 41 months and potential deportation (though Joe’s family moved from Italy to the U.S. when he was just a year old, he never officially became an American citizen); they were also ordered to pay $414,000 in restitution which they ultimately did pay down.Teresa served her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, from January 5, 2015, to December 23, 2015, then served the remaining four months of her sentence under house arrest. Joe served his time from March 23, 2016, to March 14, 2019, then was kept at an immigration detention center until October 2019 when he moved to Italy so he would be able to work while he awaits the court’s decision on deportation. In late 2014, Teresa sued her bankruptcy lawyer for $5 million, alleging that he didn’t meet with her before he filed bankruptcy documents, and in June 2018, her 2009 bankruptcy case was dismissed, and she was ordered to pay restitution to the IRS and New Jersey’s department of treasury.Personal Life: Teresa married Giuseppe “Joe” Giudice on October 23, 1999, and they welcomed their first daughter, Gia, on January 8, 2001. After Gia, they had three more daughters: Gabriella (born October 4, 2004), Milania (born February 2, 2006), and Audriana (born September 14, 2009). Teresa and Joe divorced in September 2020, and two months later, she revealed that she was in a relationship with businessman Luis Ruelas. After Giudice was released from prison, she took up competitive bodybuilding, and in June 2018, she competed in the NPC South Jersey Championships, placing third in the Bikini: 40+ category.Real Estate: In 2008, Teresa and Joe built a nearly 10,000 square foot mansion in Montville, New Jersey, and she put it on the market for $2.5 million in September 2020, then dropped the asking price to $2.25 million in January 2021. The estate includes six bedrooms, five bathrooms, a Cinderella staircase, a gigantic chandelier, and a swimming pool.
Read More