Cecil John Rhodes, a British imperialist who made a fortune in diamond mines and launched the de Beers diamond cartel, was one of those.
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De Beers has been selling its diamonds and diamond jewelry through indirect methods to the U.S. For example, through a separate entity with luxury retail conglomerate, LVMH, it sells diamond jewelry on the retail level in the U.S. through the De Beers Diamond Jewellers brand.
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But Mr Godsell sent him to De Beers, the diamond company in which Anglo American owns a 45% stake.
De Beers believes that the diamond industry has enjoyed more than 60 years of growth and prosperity precisely because of the stability that it has introduced since the 1930s.
De Beers controls the world diamond cartel and, as soon as the diamond fields around Mbuji-Mayi were captured, its men hurried to Goma only to be told by Mr Mawampanga that, as a free-marketeer, he disapproves of monopolies.
"America is the most important diamond market in the world, " says Andrew Coxon, the president of De Beers Institute of Diamonds and its top diamond buyer.
De Beers has moved its rough diamond sorting and selling operations from London, its home for 80 years, to Gaborone, Botswanna, two months ahead of schedule.
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The British conglomerate thrives by pulling maximum value from natural resources, headlined by its majority interest in African diamond giant De Beers and dominant operations in platinum mining and industrial metal production.
But the region also boasts a famous diamond mine called Mwadui Williamson's, after a Canadian geologist who first owned it and then sold it to De Beers, the South African diamond giant.
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's (nyse: DIS - news - people ) ABC hit Desperate Housewives--and teen starlet Lindsay Lohan--ranked No. 52 on The Forbes Celebrity 100 list--crammed into the swank Fifth Avenue location, which is co-owned by diamond conglomerate De Beers and luxury goods giant LVMH (otc: LVMUY - news - people ).
James Alexander is a geologist for Namdeb, a joint venture between the Namibian government and diamond mining company De Beers.
Ascorp's monopoly of the Angolan diamond trade has made it a serious rival to the global diamond marketing giant De Beers.
They have no paper trail like cash, and contrary to claims of scarcity by diamond companies like De Beers, there is an abundant, unmonitored supply for the taking.
De Beers insists that it does not keep diamond prices artificially high.
Yet none of this stopped De Beers from tearing the heart out of the diamond cartel this week.
In the U.S., De Beers's slogan, "A Diamond is Forever, " glorifies eternal romance.
De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea.
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De Beers, however, is no longer the diamond geyser it once was.
Nicky Oppenheimer, a cricket-loving scion of the family behind De Beers , is to become chairman of the diamond firm in place of Julian Ogilvie Thompson.
It was an 83.5-carat diamond and it gave birth to one of the world's most powerful multinationals, De Beers, named for Afrikaner brothers who owned a farm on top of a diamond pipe.
In Botswana and Namibia there have been a few diamond-polishing factories backed by De Beers.
De Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors.
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De Beers has suspended production at one of its biggest diamond mines.
That prompted a new effort inside the diamond industry to keep closer check on the individual diamond traders who supply companies like De Beers and Ascorp In Angola.
In his sights is a status unrivaled in the raw materials sector since Cecil Rhodes held sway over much of southern Africa in the 19th century through the diamond trading company he founded, De Beers.
Anglo American is the natural home for our stake as they have been major shareholders in De Beers since 1926 and have a deep knowledge of the diamond business.
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But De Beers does not want to be involved in that stage of diamond production.
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It has long been speculated that Anglo might increase its stake in De Beers, which vies with Russia's Alrosa for dominance in the diamond mining industry.
The yellow-brown diamond in a fire rose cushion cut was purchased from De Beers by a group led by Henry Ho of Thailand and given to Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej in honor of his 50th coronation anniversary.
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Because its sister company, De Beers for which Mr Boulle used to work runs the international diamond cartel, it has fallen foul of America's antitrust laws.
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