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Wendy Appelbaum (née Gordon; born 1961) is a South African businesswoman and philanthropist. The daughter of Donald Gordon of the Liberty Group, she has led the De Morgenzon wine estate in Stellenbosch since 2003.

Appelbaum is one of the richest women in South Africa. Through her family inheritance and business interests, Forbes estimated her net worth at $183 million in 2012, though she dismissed this estimate as "complete rubbish."

Life and career

Appelbaum was born in 1961 and grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. She was one of three children, and the only daughter, born to insurance magnate Donald Gordon and his wife Peggy. She hoped to become a medical doctor but was not accepted into medical school; instead, she studied psychology at the University of the Witwatersrand, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1982.

In the early 1990s, she gained her first directorship when she was appointed to the board of Liberty Investors, the holding company of her father's Liberty Group. In 1994, she became co-founder and deputy chairman of Women's Investment Portfolio Holdings (Wiphold), but she sold her stake in the company soon after it became the first female-controlled company to list on the JSE. Thereafter she joined the boards of several other companies. But her father ceded the family's control of the Liberty Group after he retired in 1999, telling the Business Report that Appelbaum was "terribly miserable" about his decision but that she was "better off at home looking after my grandchildren" than running the family business.

In 2003, Appelbaum and her husband bought De Morgenzon, a commercial wine estate in Stellenbosch. In 2011, she also bought the nearby Quoin Rock estate for R60 million after tax authorities seized it from Dave King.

Philanthropy and activism

Appelbaum is a trustee of her father's Donald Gordon Foundation and of the Wendy Appelbaum Foundation; in the later capacity, she established the Wendy Appelbaum Institute for Women's Health in 2011. She is a member of Peggy Rockefeller's Global Philanthropists' Circle, the Helen Suzman Foundation, and the International Women's Forum. She is also known for adopting social causes: she pursued a consumer protection complaint against the Auction Alliance after becoming convinced that it had defrauded her through ghost bidding in the Quoin Rock sale, and later she supported a legal challenge against garnishee orders.

Honours

Forbes named Appelbaum to its list of Africa's 50 Most Powerful Women in 2020 and to its list of 50 Over 50: EMEA in 2023. Her alma mater awarded her an honorary doctorate in medicine in December 2019.

Personal life

She is married to Hylton Appelbaum and has two sons, Nicholas and Matthew, a surgeon and banker respectively. She is Jewish.

References

1. Nsehe, Mfonobong (9 August 2011). "Africa's Richest Women". Forbes. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
2. Esmezyan, Teresa (30 March 2017). "Wendy Appelbaum has perfected the art of philanthropy". Global Citizen. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
3. ^ "Feisty and Cheeky—A Woman With No Regrets". Forbes. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
4. ^ Minnaar, Kirsten (6 August 2024). "South Africa's richest woman". Daily Investor. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
5. Naidoo, Alicia (27 February 2023). "SA's richest lady: Five things to know about Wendy Appelbaum". The South African. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
6. ^ "Africa's most powerful". Wits University. 31 May 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
7. ^ Methil, Renuka (1 October 2015). "The Multi-Millionaire Farmer Who Loves A Good Boardroom Fight". Forbes. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
8. Nefdt, Ashleigh (16 August 2022). "4 lessons we can all learn from SA's richest lady, Wendy Applebaum". Woman and Home Magazine. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
9. "Donald Gordon: the buccaneer hangs up his sword". Business Report. 20 February 1999. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
10. Jordan, Bobby (11 December 2011). "Wendy wins wine estate as Whitey wilts". Sunday Times. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
11. "How to Spread It: Wendy Appelbaum". News24. 12 May 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
12. "Winning bid to out auction ghosts". The Mail & Guardian. 5 April 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
13. Smith, Carin (20 February 2015). "Wendy Appelbaum backs garnishee order case". News24. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
14. "Africa's 50 Most Powerful Women". Forbes. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
15. McGrath, Maggie (18 January 2023). "50 Over 50: Europe, Middle East And Africa 2023". Forbes. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
16. "Feisty Wendy Appelbaum fights the just fight". Jewish Report. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2024.

External links

• 2023 interview with Cover Magazine

• Living people
• 1961 births
• 20th-century South African businesswomen
• 21st-century South African businesswomen
• People from Johannesburg
• South African Jews
• University of the Witwatersrand alumni