The eldest son of the deceased business tycoon Anton and his wife Huberte, Johann Rupert currently serves as the Chairman of the luxury goods company Richemont, which is based in Switzerland, and Remgro, which is based in South Africa. He also assumed the position as the Chief Executive Officer of the Compagnie Financiere Richemont. Johann Rupert is worth $8.57 billion in January 2018.

After university days, Johann Rupert took his apprenticeship at Chase Manhattan for 2 years and then for Lazard Freres for 3 years. In 1979, he returned to South Africa and founded the Rand Merchant Bank where he served as CEO. In the same year, he formed the Small Business Development Corporation.  In 1984, he merged the Rand Consolidated Investments and Rand Merchant Bank which he later left to join the Rembrandt Group. Four years later, he founded the Compagnie Financiere Richemont and he was appointed as the non-executive director of the Rothmans International. In 2010, he became South Africa's most admired business leader.