The Oppenheimer Dynasty
Ernest → Harry → Nicky (NOT Joseph Süss)
Distinct from the 18th-c. court-factor Joseph Süss Oppenheimer. Ernest Oppenheimer founded Anglo American in 1917 (J.P. Morgan backing) and took De Beers by 1929; the family controlled the physical diamond trade for 85 years.
In 2012 Nicky Oppenheimer sold the family's 40% De Beers stake to Anglo American for ~$5.1 billion and pivoted the liquidity into the Brenthurst Foundation (founded 2004; closed July 2025) — the wealth dematerialising from the mine into a think-tank, the same move Rhodes' diamond fortune made into the Round Table a century before.
Also in The Forge
De Beers / The Diamond CartelSupply-Managed Reality, ProductisedAnglo American plcThe Vehicle of ContinuityRhodes Trust & the Recruitment FunnelDiamond Money → the Policy NetworkMells Park & the Managed HandoverA Mining House Brokered the ExitMarikana & Capital Preservation16 August 2012Jan SmutsBoer General → Round Table → UN Preamble