Let’s start by
listing the one thing she has and that you will never have, which has allowed
her to have everything else on this list. Isabel dos Santos is the daughter of
a president, the first known female billionaire on the African continent, and
she has a lifetime membership in the so-called cryptocracy, or shadow
government, where real economic-political power resides. She can have
anything she wants — even if she professes to have a humble lifestyle. Here are
12 things Isabel dos Santos has that you do not, bearing in mind that best
things in life are usually not even things.
1. A doting father
Maybe your dad got you a job in the mail room. Isabel’s father is Angolan
President José Eduardo dos Santos. His term has lasted 33 years so far. He
aided his daughter in amassing her estimated $3.7-billion
fortune, according to Forbes.com. They achieved this in less
than a decade.
2. Guaranteed nightlife
At 24, maybe you go to the bar down on the beach with your buddies.
Isabel at 24 had a partnership in a popular Luanda bar named Miami
Beach, lending the weight of her name and little investment to the deal. It was
a valuable lesson in investing. Still open today, the bar serves mediocre fare
with slow service and loud music.
3. Breaking news at her fingertips
You read the newspaper and get your fingers blackened with ink. Isabel owns
a $500-million (70-percent) stake in the Portuguese Zon Multimedia, which
controls all media in Angola. Her hands don’t have ink stains.
4. Limitless bling
Maybe your boyfriend bought you a little diamond ring. Isabel dos
Santos is the main beneficiary of Angola’s diamond trade. With her
husband, Sindiki Dokolo and their Victoria Holding Ltd., they acquired
72.5-percent ownership of the Swiss jeweler, de Grisogono, adding to their
monopoly on the flourishing diamond trade in Angola — the fourth-largest
in the world.
5. Direct dial
You download apps on your smartphone to pass time. Isabel and
her father download money to their accounts from
their 25-percent stakes (each) of Unitel, the Angolan mobile
telephone operator on a continent that has been revolutionized by mobile.
Annual revenue streams hit around $2 billion, making it the largest privately
held company in Angola.
6. A built-in DIY
You shop at Home Depot for a DIY long-weekend project. Isabel owns
an 89-percent stake in the only cement-producing factory in Angola.
It’s owned by the company Nova Cimangola. An Angolan ministers’ resolution
approved the $74-million buyout in 2006, and the company is holding strong.
7. Shopping savvy
When you are out of groceries, you head to the grocery store or market.
Isabel owns the markets. Her company, Condis, partnered with Portugal’s largest
retailer, Sonae, for a 51-percent share. Scheduled for completion and
opening in 2015 in Luanda are five new hypermarkets with an alleged
$107-million investment.
8. Event planning know-how
You celebrate your anniversary by hiring a babysitter and hitting the local
oyster house. Isabel commemorated her 10th wedding anniversary to
Congolese businessman Sindika Dokolo by jetting in guests from as far away as
Germany and Brazil to join hundreds of guests for a weekend extravaganza.
It included a night at the Fortress of São Miguel in the capital city of
Luanda and a Sunday brunch on the beach of fashionable Mussulo Peninsula.
9. Celebrities on speed dial
You and your pals chip in and hire a clown for your office party. As
chairwoman of the Angolan Red Cross, Isabel allegedly paid $1 million for
American singer Mariah Carey to appear at a December
2013 charity fundraising gala. Mariah’s notes hit high on the list of
singing for dictators. She performed on a previous occasion for former Libyan
leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
10. Boss-manship
Unemployment in Angola is 25-to-36 percent of the
country’s 21.47 million people. Isabel, who owns major shares in mining,
oil, cement, media and banking, is said to have employed close to 4000 of
the estimated 5.7 million Angolans looking for work.
11. A positive outlook
If you have a job, you probably earn more than the $6 a day that
most of Angolans live on. Isabel has a positive vision of Angola’s growing
middle class, one which many living in a shadow economy do not share. Angola is
one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies. Its gross domestic product is up
11.6 percent, oil production increased from .09 million to 1.8-million
barrels a day, and the government budget is $69 billion. However most
Angolans live on $2,040 a year.
12. A swank crib
Isabel has her main residence in Luanda, the most expensive city in the
world. For two years running, Luanda ranked No. 1 for most expensive
cities on the cost of living index, according to the Mercer survey. Luanda
does not, however, make the cut for quality of living.
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