Business tycoon Anton Rupert, whose family controls Cie. Financiere Richemont, died in his sleep at his home in Stellenbosch, South Africa, last night at the age of 89.

Rupert, whose family is among the 500 richest in the world with assets worth around US$ 1.7 billion according to business magazine Forbes, built up a business empire spanning several continents after starting to manufacture cigarettes in his garage in the 1940s.
Rupert founded Rembrandt Tobacco Corp in 1948 in South Africa and built Compagnie Financiere Richemont, now the world's second-largest luxury-goods company, out of the business, bringing some of the world's most exclusive brands such as Mont Blanc, Cartier and Dunhill under one umbrella. He also created the cigarette brand Peter Stuyvesant.
In 1996, Rembrandt and Richemont merged their tobacco assets to form Rothmans International, which British American Tobacco bought in 1999. (pi)