South Africa has welcomed a new entrant into its billionaire ranks as Paul van Zuydam, the 87-year-old owner of the iconic French cookware brand Le Creuset, joins the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires Index with an estimated net worth of $1.7 billion.
His inclusion makes him the eighth South African dollar-denominated billionaire and highlights a changing pattern in how wealth is being created beyond the country’s traditional strongholds of mining, telecoms, and retail.
Van Zuydam’s fortune is rooted in his strategic acquisition of Le Creuset in 1988, at a time when the nearly century-old brand was struggling with internal disputes, declining sales, and mounting debt. After personally inspecting the company’s French operations, he took control with a clear strategy: preserve the brand’s heritage while modernising its business model.
Production was streamlined, automation was introduced to boost output, and manufacturing was kept firmly in France to protect authenticity and brand value.
Following its turnaround, Le Creuset expanded aggressively into key global markets, particularly the United States and Asia, repositioning itself as a premium lifestyle brand rather than a mass-market cookware producer.
The introduction of new colour ranges, limited editions, and experiential retail helped cement its global appeal. Notably, the company has operated without external debt since 2001 and now generates over $850 million in annual revenue, with van Zuydam remaining actively involved as president.
Van Zuydam now joins a select group of South African billionaires, reinforcing the idea that future wealth may increasingly be built on global consumer brands, heritage-driven businesses, and strong storytelling in international markets.
