Oppenheimer, Harry (Frederick)

Harry Oppenheimer managed the world's largest diamond and gold mining companies for 25 years.

As former Anglo American and De Beers Consolidated Mines chairman, Oppenheimer employed cheap black migrant labor in his diamond mines despite his own critical views of South Africa's policy of apartheid.

Overall, however, he is credited with providing employment for hundreds of thousands of South Africans and citizens of neighboring countries.

The Oppenheimer family fortune was reported to be $2.5 billion; Oppenheimer inherited the gold and diamond conglomerate from his father. Even today, De Beers still has considerable control over the world's diamond markets. Oppenheimer died on August 19, 2000, at the age of 91.

Last updated: March 18, 2009.