North Africa’s richest man sees net worth slip below $10 billion amid gold market dip

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has seen his fortune slip below the $10 billion mark, after losing more than $170 million in less than a month, according to data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Sawiris’ net worth fell from $10 billion on October 7 to $9.83 billion.

The decline follows a strong rally earlier this year that made Sawiris Egypt’s first billionaire to cross the $10 billion threshold on Bloomberg’s global rich list.

Sawiris, one of the world’s prominent investors in gold, has benefited greatly from the metal’s surge in recent months. However, the recent slide in gold prices has weighed on his fortune.

Gold slipped below $4,000 per ounce this week, retreating from a record high above $4,350 earlier this year, as investors scaled back expectations of further U.S. interest rate cuts, a key driver of precious metal prices.

The bulk of Sawiris’ wealth is tied to his mining interests through La Mancha, his investment firm. In October, the company increased its stake in Greenheart Gold Inc. by 2 million shares, raising its total holding to about 5%.

La Mancha’s investment portfolio is currently valued at $2.44 billion, with major stakes in Endeavour Mining and Evolution Mining, which together reported production of 751 kilograms of gold and 76 kilograms of copper this year, figures within projected guidance.

Beyond mining, Sawiris also has a strong foothold in real estate. His company, Ora Developers, in May, officially launched Bayn, a $10 billion beachfront development in the United Arab Emirates, showing his growing interests in high-end property ventures.