De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited/De Beers Centenary AG History



Address:
36 Stockdale Street
Kimberley 8301
Republic of South Africa
Telephone: (531) 80-7111
Fax: (531) 80-7230
http://www.edata.co.za/debeers
Langensandstrasse 27
6000 Luzern 14
Switzerland

Telephone: (531) 80-7111
Fax: (531) 80-7230

Website:
Public Company
Founded: 1880 as De Beers Mining Company Ltd.
Employees: 25,000
Sales: R 24.85 billion (US$4.49 billion) (1998)
Stock Exchanges: Johannesburg London Paris Brussels Frankfurt Zurich Geneva Basel
Ticker Symbol: DBRSY
NAIC: 421840 Diamonds, Industrial, Wholesaling; 421940 Diamonds (Except Industrial) Wholesaling; 339913 Jewelers' Material & Lapidary Work Manufacturing; 42194 Jewelry, Watch, Precious Stone, & Precious Metal Wholesalers; 212399 Precious Stones Mining; 421940 Precious Stones Wholesaling

Company History:

Further Reading:

  • Barnes, William, "De Beers Denies Branding Will Hit Diamond Market," Financial Times, July 31, 1998, p. 30.
  • Behrmann, Neil, "De Beers's Diamond Cartel Shows Flaws," Wall Street Journal, October 31, 1994, p. C1.
  • Carley, William M., "Fatal Flaws: How the Federal Case Against GE, De Beers Collapsed So Quickly," Wall Street Journal, December 28, 1994, pp. A1+.
  • Chilvers, Hedley A., The Story of De Beers, London: Cassell and Company, 1939.
  • Curtin, Matthew, "De Beers Faces Challenge to Its Power: Dominance in Diamonds Threatened by Russia, Canada," Wall Street Journal, August 22, 1994, p. A5B.
  • Dawley, Heidi, and William Echikson, "Cracks in the Diamond Trade," Business Week, March 2, 1998, p. 106.
  • "De Beers Is It," Economist, December 19, 1998, p. 89.
  • Frank, David, "Unbundling into Power," Euromoney, September 1992.
  • "Friends Again," Economist, March 2, 1996, pp. 59--60.
  • Fuhrman, Peter, "The Rough Trade in Rough Stones," Forbes, March 27, 1995, pp. 47+.
  • "Glass with Attitude," Economist, December 20, 1997, pp. 113+.
  • Gooding, Kenneth, "De Beers Digs Deeper into Its Resources," Financial Times, September 6, 1994, p. 32.
  • ----, "Oppenheimer Connection Continues at De Beers," Financial Times, October 7, 1997, p. 25.
  • ----, "Quiet Heir Apparent to a Mining Empire," Financial Times, August 19, 1996, p. 8.
  • ----, "Steep Fall in Diamond Sales by De Beers," Financial Times, June 18, 1998, p. 32.
  • Green, Timothy, The World of Diamonds, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1981, 300 p.
  • Gregory, Theodore, Ernest Oppenheimer and the Economic Development of Southern Africa, Cape Town: Oxford University Press, 1962.
  • Hilzenrath, David S., and Steven Pearlstein, "U.S. Probing Possible Price-Fixing by GE," Washington Post, April 23, 1992.
  • Hocking, Anthony, Oppenheimer and Son, Johannesburg: McGraw-Hill, 1973, 526 p.
  • "Is It a Crack or a Scratch?," Economist, September 12, 1992.
  • Jamieson, Bill, Goldstrike: The Oppenheimer Empire in Crisis, London: Hutchinson Business Books, 1990.
  • Jessup, Edward, Ernest Oppenheimer: A Study in Power, London: Rex Collins, 1979, 357 p.
  • Kanfer, Stefan, The Last Empire: De Beers, Diamonds, and the World, New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1993, 409 p.
  • Kvint, Vladimir, "Sorry, Mr. Oppenheimer," Forbes, February 15, 1993, pp. 42--43.
  • McNeil, Donald G., Jr., "A Diamond Cartel May Be Forever," New York Times, January 12, 1999, pp. C1, C4.
  • Melcher, Richard A., and Deborah Stead, "Can De Beers Hold On to Its Hammerlock?," Business Week, September 21, 1992, pp. 45+.
  • Newbury, Colin, The Diamond Ring Business, Politics and Precious Stones in South Africa, 1867-1947, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.
  • Pallister, David, Sarah Stewart, and Ian Lepper, South Africa Inc.: The Oppenheimer Empire, rev. ed., London: Simon & Schuster, 1987, 382 p.
  • "Prince of Diamonds," Economist, December 13, 1997, p. 60.
  • Reeve, Simon, "De Beers' Market Stranglehold Isn't for Ever," European, July 6, 1998, pp. 24+.
  • Schiller, Zachary, and Catherine Yang, "This Diamond Case Had Too Many Flaws," Business Week, December 19, 1994, p. 34.
  • Shor, Russell, "De Beers Versus the Bear Market: Who Will Win?," Jewelers Circular Keystone, June 1995, pp. 122+.
  • ----, "Russia to De Beers: 'We Want More Control,"' Jewelers Circular Keystone, January 1993.

Source: International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 28. St. James Press, 1999.