Cecil Rhodes, founder of DeBeers, started in business by renting water pumps to miners during the diamond rush of 1867. With his profits he bought the claims of small mining companies and soon formed DeBeers Consolidated Mines in 1888.

Through a series of mergers, DeBeers soon became the sole owner of all mining operations in the country. Then in 1889, Rhodes negotiated a strategic agreement with the London based Diamond Syndicate, which agreed to purchase a fixed quantity of diamonds at a fixed price and the DeBeers diamond monopoly was born.

The astounding success of DeBeers continued well into the 1990s until Russia, Canada and Australia started distributing diamonds outside the DeBeers channel. This effectively ended the DeBeers monopoly of the diamond market.

Continue reading DeBeers sales are falling, so why not buy a diamond now?

DeBeers sales are falling, so why not buy a diamond now? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.