People/magnate, financier

Ernest Oppenheimer

Ernest Oppenheimer (1880–1957), magnate, financier, politician, from Germany. Linked to diamonds, gold, copper.

The lucky break

Sent to Kimberley in 1902 as a diamond buyer aged 22. He later won control of confiscated German mining interests in South West Africa.1

The downfall

His house was stoned in anti-German riots in 1916 because of his surname.1

Legacy

Founded Anglo American in September 1917 with J. P. Morgan finance, chaired De Beers from 1929 and formed the Central Selling Organization.1

Story cards

Timeline

  1. 1917Anglo American founded2
Drag to turn the globe

Where next

People

FamilyHarry OppenheimerA son who took over Anglo American and De Beers when his father died.3Inspired byCecil RhodesOppenheimer copied Rhodes's trick of controlling the diamond supply.1

Mines

Worked atKimberley Big HoleHe arrived in Kimberley at 22 and ended up running De Beers.1

Events

FoundedAnglo American foundedErnest Oppenheimer is part of this story: Anglo American founded.2

Sources

  1. Sir Ernest Oppenheimer South African History Online
  2. 100 years of Anglo American
  3. Harry Oppenheimer obituary The Guardian (David Pallister, 21 Aug 2000)

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Chiquicamata Mine, Chile, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); NASA's ASTER Shows Brazilian City After Dam Disaster, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); Kimberley, South Africa: miners and washing gear at the Bultfontein diamond mine. Woodburytype, 1888, after a photograph by Robert Harris., Harris, Robert, active 1881-1888. (Public Domain Mark 1.0).