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28-451: The Rembrandt Group , officially known as Rembrandt Trust (Proprietary) Limited , is a South African tobacco and industrial conglomerate founded by tycoon Anton Rupert who oversaw its eventual transition to the industrial and luxury branded goods sectors. Rembrandt was split into Remgro (an investment company with financial, mining and industrial interests) and Richemont (a Swiss-based luxury goods group). Rupert originally established

56-675: A "moderate" who could unify the country, whilst still maintaining and developing the Apartheid system. Verwoerd was assassinated within one month, and hardliner John Vorster was endorsed by the NP caucus to replace him; Vorster was to become South Africa's longest consecutive-serving head of government. He was a member of the secret Afrikaner society, the Afrikaner Broederbond in the 1940s, but eventually he dismissed it as an "absurdity", and allowed his membership to lapse. Rupert

84-535: A long association with Rothmans who sponsored the team's Mazda RX-7s in the early-mid 1980s in Australian Touring car racing through their Peter Stuyvesant brand). Driving a V8 powered Holden VL Commodore SS Group A , team boss Allan Moffat and co-driver John Harvey won the first ever WTCC race, the 1987 Monza 500 . The pair would later drive the Rothmans sponsored car to outright 4th place in

112-1004: A non-profit company whose loans to small and medium-sized businesses have created nearly half a million jobs since 1981. Rupert established the tobacco company "Voorbrand Tobacco Company" in 1939 manufacturing snuff. He soon renamed it Rembrandt Ltd., whose overseas tobacco interests were consolidated into Rothmans in 1972. In 1988, the Rembrandt group founded the Swiss luxury goods company, Richemont, which in turn acquired Rembrandt's shares in Rothmans . Richemont also owns such luxury brands as Cartier (jewellery); Alfred Dunhill and Sulka (designer clothing); Seeger (leather bags); Piaget , Baume & Mercier and Vacheron Constantin (Swiss watches) and Montblanc (writing instruments). In 1995, Rembrandt and Richemont consolidated their respective tobacco interests into Rothmans International , which

140-512: Is all wheel drive and lifted, it carries the same colors and similar patterns the Rothmans car displayed along with the Rothmans moniker on the sides. That logo has been dropped in exchange for the logo “Roughroads” on the sides. A limited run of 2,500 cars are being made. The original three digit numbers (#175) can be used or any three digit number can be chosen by the buyer. Base price is just over $ 230,000 and an additional amount of options can add well over $ 100,000 extra. Porsche left rallying when

168-476: The Forbes list of 500 wealthiest families worldwide. At the time of his death his assets were estimated at $ 1.7 billion. In 1966, he was mentioned as a possible candidate for Prime Minister as a part of a " Verwoerd must go" campaign. The Cape Province section of the ruling National Party endorsed Rupert over Verwoerd, citing the need to improve South Africa's international standing and Rupert's image as

196-591: The Group B category was dropped, and Rothmans transferred its association to the Subaru rally team , also run by Prodrive (Ian Parry and David Richards). Coincidentally, Richards was sponsored by Rothmans when he was co-driving Ari Vatanen to his privateer 1981 World Drivers' Championship success aboard the Ford Escort RS1800 . The association with Prodrive would last until 1992 , when their sponsorship

224-682: The Rembrandt Tobacco Company acquired a controlling interest in Rothmans. Rembrandt was expanding and in 1958 acquired Carreras , who in turn took a 51% stake in Alfred Dunhill in 1967. In the 1970s, Rothmans became involved in sponsorships, sponsoring the British Olympic team in 1972 and the inaugural Hong Kong Sevens in 1976. They also sponsored Rothmans Football Yearbook , an annual football reference book, from 1970 until 2002. In Malaysia, Rothmans

252-483: The "Rothmans International" name. Then, in 1999, Rothmans was acquired by British American Tobacco . The takeover resulted in the closure of the Rothmans Spennymoor and Darlington manufacturing plants in 2000 and 2001, respectively, with production moved to a larger plant at Southampton. Rothmans was an active promoter of motorsports in the 1980s and 1990s. From 1982 onwards, Rothmans supported

280-410: The 911 SC RS rally car specifically for Rothmans with the car being run by David Richards and the newly formed Prodrive (set up and run by both Ian Parry & David Richards). Rothmans also sponsored the winning Porsche team at the 1986 Paris-Dakar rally . Porsche has revived the 911 Dakar model introduced to their 2023 spring lineup being promoted as having roots in the Rothmans 911 and although it

308-727: The L'Ormarins and La Motte wine estates and having a stake in Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons, the wine-making partnership between the Rupert and Rothschild families (at the time of his death due to a car crash in 2001, Rupert's youngest son, Anthonij, was head of Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons.) The Ruperts also partially control two of South Africa's largest wine merchant houses, Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery (SFW) and Distillers Corporation, who together produce one of every six bottles of wine in South Africa and nearly eighty percent of

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336-584: The Molteno Medal for lifetime services to cultural and nature conservation. In 2004, he was voted 28th in the television series, Top 100 Great South Africans . Rothmans International The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index , but it was acquired by British American Tobacco in 1999. Its business was the strongest in

364-478: The Rembrandt group founded the Swiss luxury goods company, Richemont , which in turn acquired Rembrandt's shares in Rothmans. Richemont also owns such luxury brands as Cartier (jewellery); Alfred Dunhill and Sulka (designer clothing); Seeger (leather bags); Piaget , Baume & Mercier and Vacheron Constantin (Swiss watches) and Montblanc (pens). In 1995 Rembrandt and Richemont consolidated their respective tobacco interests into Rothmans International, which

392-470: The age of 89. After dropping out of medical school due to a lack of funds, Rupert earned a chemistry degree at the University of Pretoria , where he also lectured for a short while. Subsequently, he started a dry-cleaning business. Some time later, with an initial investment of £10 and together with two fellow investors, he started manufacturing cigarettes in his garage, which he eventually built into

420-556: The country's brandy. These two companies have merged to form Distell Group Limited . Among other interests, the Rupert Group also owns South Africa's second-largest chain of private hospitals, the Medi-Clinic Corporation , with 5,500 beds. According to his biography, Rupert's business career spanned over sixty years. He started his global empire with a personal investment of just £10 in 1941 becoming named on

448-762: The factory Porsche sports car racing effort, winning the 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans with a 1-2-3 finish with their Porsche 956 . They would win the event a further three times in the 1980s. Rothmans-Porsche also won the 1985 World Sportscar Championship before the team officially pulled out of the championship in 1987. Rothmans were the title and founding partner of the Rothmans-Porsche Challenge Cup single-make Porsche 944 series founded by Jack Christie , which ran from 1986 to 1991. Rothmans sponsorship also extended to rallying , where they sponsored Walter Röhrl 's 1982 World Rally Championship -winning Opel Ascona 400 . In 1984 Porsche produced

476-796: The organisation. With an initial grant of 1.2 million Rand (US$ 260,000) from the Rupert Nature Foundation, the Peace Parks Foundation was established on 1 February 1997 to facilitate the establishment of TFCAs in southern Africa. Nelson Mandela , Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands and Anton Rupert were the founding patrons of the Peace Parks Foundation. In 2000, the Cape Tercentenary Foundation awarded him

504-564: The region of US$ 10 billion. Rupert had also been deeply involved in environmental conservation and his companies have been prominent in funding the fine arts; since 1964, foundations established by Rembrandt have used a part of the group's profits for the promotion of education, art, music and the preservation of historical buildings. He also played an important role in the South African Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC),

532-453: The tobacco and industrial conglomerate Rembrandt Group , overseeing its transition to the industrial and luxury branded goods sectors, with Rembrandt eventually splitting into Remgro (an investment company with financial, mining and industrial interests) and Richemont (a Swiss-based luxury goods group). Currently, this business empire encompasses hundreds of companies located in 35 countries on six continents, with combined yearly net sales in

560-674: The tobacco company "Voorbrand" in the 1940s. He soon renamed it Rembrandt Ltd. The first Rembrandt cigarettes were manufactured in an old flour mill in Paarl . Four years later Rupert introduced the world to the first king-sized cigarette filter. It was a wild success and it was on the back of this and a R1,5 million loan from Sanlam that Rembrandt's vast overseas empire was built. In 1968, it incorporated Remgro as an investment holding company with interests in financial, mining and industrial interests. In 1972, Rembrandt's overseas tobacco interests were consolidated into Rothmans International . In 1988,

588-523: The wheel of the Rothmans-Williams during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Damon Hill won the 1996 title and Jacques Villeneuve in 1997. Sponsorship was transferred in 1998 to Winfield , another sister brand. Rothmans was also the naming rights sponsor for Australian team Allan Moffat Racing in the early rounds of the inaugural World Touring Car Championship in 1987 (the Moffat team had

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616-520: The whole of Europe. The company was founded by Louis Rothman in 1890 as a small kiosk on Fleet Street in London. In 1900, Rothman opened a small showroom in Pall Mall , from where he launched his famous Pall Mall cigarette brand. His reputation was such that King Edward VII granted Rothmans a royal warrant in 1905. Rothmans was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1929. In 1954,

644-565: Was a founding member of the WWF ( World Wildlife Fund ) and it was in his role as the president of the organisation's South African branch that he took a lead in the creation of trans-frontier parks (also known as trans-frontier conservation areas (TFCAs) or "peace parks"), such as the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area . He also established The 1001: A Nature Trust in 1970, a financial endowment to fund

672-561: Was at the time the world's fourth largest cigarette manufacturer. In 1999, Rothmans International merged with British American Tobacco (BAT), the world's second largest cigarette producer. Remgro held 10% and Richemont held 18.6% of BAT before unbundling. Anton's eldest son, Johann Rupert , is now the CEO of Richemont and chairman of Remgro. The Rupert family is also deeply involved in the South African wine and liquor industry, owning

700-404: Was at the time the world's fourth largest cigarette manufacturer. In 1999, Rothmans International was acquired by British American Tobacco . This South African corporation or company article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Anton Rupert Anthony Edward Rupert OMSG (4 October 1916 – 18 January 2006) was a South African businessman and conservationist. He

728-737: Was born on 4 October, 1916 and raised in the small town of Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape Province of the Union of South Africa . His parents were John Peter Rupert and Hester Adriana Rupert. He studied in Pretoria and ultimately moved to Stellenbosch , where he established the Rembrandt Group and where it still has its headquarters today. He died in his sleep at his home in Thibault Street, Stellenbosch at

756-535: Was one of the popular brands of cigarette, so much so that one of the roundabouts in Petaling Jaya was named 'Rothmans Roundabout' owing to its proximity to the former headquarters of Rothmans of Pall Mall Malaysia (now British American Tobacco Malaysia). It has since converted to a 4-way junction . In 1988, Lord Swaythling became chairman and chief executive . In January 1996, the Rembrandt Group and Richemont merged their tobacco businesses under

784-532: Was replaced by sister brand State Express 555 . Between 1985 and 1993, Rothmans supported the works Honda team in Grand Prix motorcycle racing . Rothmans then transferred their association to Williams during the World Championship from 1994 until 1997. However, their time with Williams was marred when Ayrton Senna , considered by some to be the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time, died behind

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