Alfred Beit

For the British politician, art collector and philanthropist, see Sir Alfred Beit, 2nd Baronet.

Alfred Beit
Alfred Beit, by Giovanni Boldini
Born(1853-02-15)15 February 1853
Hamburg, German Confederation
Died16 July 1906(1906-07-16) (aged 53)
Tewin, Hertfordshire
NationalityBritish

Alfred Beit (15 February 1853 – 16 July 1906) was an Anglo-German gold and diamond magnate in South Africa, and a major donor and profiteer of infrastructure development on the African continent. He also donated much money to university education and research in several countries, and was the "silent partner" who structured the capital flight from post-Boer War South Africa to Rhodesia. Beit's assets were structured around the so-called Corner House Group, which through its holdings in various companies controlled 37 per cent of the gold produced at the Witwatersrand's goldfields in Johannesburg in 1913.[1]

  1. ^ See chapter 12 in Rönnbäck & Broberg (2019) Capital and Colonialism. The Return on British Investments in Africa 1869-1969 (Palgrave Studies in Economic History)</