Beny Steinmetz

About Beny Steinmetz

Birth Year: 1956
Birth Place: Netanya, Israel, Israel
Residence: Geneva, Switzerland
Occupation: Businessman
Known for: Diamonds, engineering, real estate
Children: 4
Website: beny-steinmetz.org

Beny Steinmetz Net Worth

Beny Steinmetz was born on 1956 in Netanya, Israel, Israel. Diamond tycoon Beny Steinmetz is the owner of BSGR, an embattled mining company with a heavy presence in Africa. Born and raised in Israel, Steinmetz moved to Belgium in 1978 to start a diamond business and later founded what would become the Steinmetz Diamond Group with his brother. Steinmetz's iron ore mining efforts in Guinea beginning in 2008 have erupted into a political and legal battlefield. Steinmetz's BSGR acquired iron ore mining rights from the late Guinean dictator Lansana Conté for free, after Conté stripped the rights from Australian mining giant Rio Tinto. In 2010, Steinmetz sold 51% of the mining rights to Brazilian multinational Vale for $2.5 billion, but as of February 2016 he had only collected $500 million. Rio Tinto sued BSGR in New York but the case was thrown out in November 2015. Guinea's first democratically elected president, Alpha Condé, decided in April 2014 to strip BSGR of its interests in the Simandou region after an inquiry determined they were illegally obtained and is the in process of auctioning them off. BSGR is asking an international tribunal to halt the proceedings and return its claim to the rights. Steinmetz was held under house arrest in Israel in connection to bribery allegations against him related to BSGR's project in Guinea. He was not charged and was released in January 2017; BSGR described the allegations as "baseless."
Beny Steinmetz is a member of Metals & Mining

💰Beny Steinmetz Net worth: $1 Billion (Updated at 22 June 2018)

2009 $2 Billion
2010 $2 Billion
2011 $6 Billion
2012 $5.9 Billion
2013 $4.1 Billion
2014 $4.1 Billion
2015 $3.5 Billion
2016 $1 Billion
2017 $1.1 Billion
2018 $1.04 Billion

Some Beny Steinmetz images

Biography/Timeline

1997

In 1997, he founded STI Ventures NV, a venture capital firm that invests in start-up companies in Israel. In 1999, he was the owner of Tucows. BSGR and another investment firm, IMR, also control Cunico. A now-defunct company, of which he was a founder and shareholder, Nikanor plc, listed in London, was acquired by Katanga Mining in 2008. With his company called Scorpio, he owns real estate in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Eastern Europe.

2007

In 2007, Steinmetz and his wife Agnes founded the Agnes and Beny Steinmetz Foundation in order to unify their multiple volunteer activities under the auspices of one philanthropic organization. The Foundation is primarily engaged in financing projects in the fields of education, Health care, and culture for young children.

2008

In December 2008, a three-year exploration permit for Simandou Blocks 1 & 2, in the Republic of Guinea, was awarded to BSGR Guinea, after the government of Guinea, under its then President, General Lansana Conté, ordered that it be relinquished by its previous holder, the British-Australian multinational mining company Rio Tinto Group.

2011

As of March 2011, he was the second richest person in Israel, before Sammy Ofer died in June 2011. According to Forbes in June 2014, Steinmetz is the sixth richest Israeli in the world with a net worth of $3.5 billion.

2014

In September 2014 BSGR started an international arbitration proceeding against the Republic of Guinea in the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, challenging the government's decision to revoke its mining rights.

2015

In November 2015, Rio Tinto's RICO lawsuit against BSGR was dismissed, with U.S. District Judge Richard Berman ruling that Rio exceeded the statute of limitations when filing their claim against BSGR in 2014 and that the company failed to identify a pattern of racketeering activity by the defendants.

2016

At the end of 2016, the Foundation held a festive event to celebrate a decade of giving. Attendants included representatives of the many organizations the Foundation had supported over the years by contributing a cumulative amount of tens of millions of shekels.

2017

On 14 August 2017, Steinmetz—along with David Granot, Tal Zilberstein, Doron Levy, and Asher Avidan—was arrested as part of a joint investigation by Israeli and Swiss anti-corruption officials over "allegations of largescale fraud, breach of trust, bribery, obstruction of justice and false registration of corporate documents" with the apparent purpose of money laundering.

2019

The U.S. Justice Department and the FBI have been investigating BSGR's acquisition of the rights to extract half of the iron ore deposits at Simandou, Guinea, due to concerns about corruption and bribery. BSGR denied these allegations and in an interview to the New Yorker, Steinmetz said: “We are the victims. We have done only good things for Guinea, and what we’re getting is spit in the face."