Former Anglo American and De Beers executive chair Julian Ogilvie Thompson has died aged 89 after a short illness.
Ogilvie Thompson spent 46 years with the Anglo group, leading it during SA’s transition to democracy and through the complex restructuring that saw Anglo streamline its operations and move its headquarters to London in 1999.
Anglo said in a brief tribute that Ogilvie Thompson had left an indelible mark.
“Julian’s indispensable role in shaping both our company and the broader SA landscape is hard to overstate,” Anglo said.
“A fervent patriot, Julian’s deep engagement in SA’s public life was matched only by his commitment to nurturing young leaders.
“Julian, along with many other visionaries from his and subsequent generations at Anglo American, held the conviction that business could and should act as a catalyst for positive change in SA,” the group said. “His visionary leadership will be profoundly missed.”
The Cape Town-born Ogilvie Thompson won a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University, where he studied politics, philosophy and economics before joining Anglo in 1956.
He started work in its London office before moving back to SA in 1957 as personal assistant to Harry Oppenheimer, who had returned to run Anglo on the death of Sir Ernest Oppenheimer. Ogilvie Thompson, who was widely known as “JOT”, became Anglo’s finance director in the late 1960s and went on to hold a series of executive and board positions at De Beers and Minorco (which housed Anglo’s non-SA, non-diamond assets) as well as at Anglo itself.
He succeeded Harry Oppenheimer as chair of De Beers in 1985 and succeeded Gavin Relly as chair of Anglo in 1990. Tony Trahar succeeded him as CEO of Anglo but Ogilvie Thompson remained on as non-executive chair. He retired in 2002.
He wrote in a blog in 2022 that he chose Anglo American over rival Goldfields and Union Corporation and started work at £60 a month.
He married an Englishwoman, Tessa Brand, in the year he joined Anglo. They were married for over 63 years until her death in 2020.
Fortunate life
“Thus ended 63-and-a-half years of a special marriage — 46 years working and 17 in retirement. Fortunate me. Indeed a Fortunate Life,” he wrote.
He served as a trustee of the Rhodes (now Mandela Rhodes) Foundation for many years and remained closely associated with his Oxford college, Worcester, which said in a tribute that he had transformed the lives of hundreds of young people through his Worcester scholarship and the work of the Mandela Rhodes foundation.
He leaves four children and several grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.