South Africa’s diamonds dynasty kissing the business good bye

The dynasty involved in South Africa’s diamond industry for a century, is finally getting out of the business. The Oppenheimers, Africa’s second-richest family sold their 40 percent stake in De Beers to Anglo American, Reuters reports.

There is nothing intrinsically valuable about diamonds. The fact that we think of them as precious is mostly thanks to South Africa’s Oppenheimer dynasty. It is they who, with a bit of help from an American advertising man, sprinkled the rocks with romance and convinced the world that diamonds are forever.