The De Beers diamond settlement is a huge class action lawsuit that will pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to consumers who purchased loose diamonds or jewelry and jewelry store owners who were affected by an alleged DeBeers monopoly, and who filed claims May 19, 2008.
Full Answer
What is the settlement with De Beers?
The settlement provides $295 million to purchasers of diamonds and diamond jewelry, including $130 million to consumers. In addition, De Beers consented to a historic injunction that prohibits De Beers from monopolizing the world supply of rough diamonds and from fixing the price of polished diamonds.
What is the De Beers diamonds antitrust class action?
The De Beers diamonds antitrust class action sought to end an alleged 60-year conspiracy to fix the price of rough diamonds in the U.S. by the De Beers group of companies. The litigation includes several cases including Hopkins v. De Beers Centenary A.G., et al., No. CGC-04-432954, which commenced on July 24, 2004, and Sullivan v.
Does De Beers have a monopoly on diamonds?
In addition, De Beers consented to a historic injunction that prohibits De Beers from monopolizing the world supply of rough diamonds and from fixing the price of polished diamonds. The injunction also requires De Beers to submit to the continuing jurisdiction of the United States District Court for enforcement of the injunction.
Did De Beers create a global diamond cartel?
The complaints charged that De Beers had created a global cartel in the markets of rough and polished diamonds – with a market share that reached nearly as high as 90% - through aggressive management of supply and prices, and collusive agreements with competitors, suppliers, and distributors.
What percentage of diamonds come from De Beers?
Competition has since dismantled the complete monopoly; the De Beers Group now sells approximately 29.5% of the world's rough diamond production by value through its global sightholder and auction sales businesses.
Is De Beers still profitable?
De Beers' profit rebounded last year as strong consumer demand buoyed rough-diamond sales and drove prices higher. The miner's underlying earnings came to $345 million for the full year, compared with a loss of $102 million in 2020, parent company Anglo American reported Thursday.
Is De Beers an ethical company?
Our stringent sourcing procedures, selection processes and certification requirements mean that the diamonds in every piece of De Beers jewellery are guaranteed to be ethically produced and 100 per cent conflict-free.
Who owns De Beers company today?
Anglo American, which previously had a 45 percent stake in the company, bought the De Beers Groups' 40 percent share for $5.1 billion in cash. Anglo American, previously started by Oppenheimer, will take over De Beers from that very same family.
Who owns the most diamonds in the world?
Cheng Yu-tung, honorary chairman of the world's biggest jewelry retailer by market value Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, has wealth estimated at $19.6 billion, more than triple that of his closest competitor Beny Steinmetz in the world's richest diamond owners list.
Who is the largest diamond company?
The De Beers GroupDe Beers is the world's largest diamond company. The De Beers Group controls companies in the diamond mining, diamond processing and diamond trading sectors; and is active in all avenues of diamond mining – open-pit mining, underground mining, alluvial mining and offshore mining.
Why is De Beers unethical?
A little over a year ago, De Beers, the mining colossus straddling the world's diamond trade, confronted double jeopardy. Human rights groups were accusing it of buying illicit diamonds from African rebels and rulers who used the proceeds to help pay for their wars.
Is De Beers still a monopoly?
Today, De Beers no longer has control of the diamond industry, and for the first time in a century, market supply and demand dynamics, not the De Beers monopoly, drives diamond prices. In the late 19th century a massive diamond discovery in South Africa prompted a diamond rush.
Are De Beers diamonds blood diamonds?
Currently on their website, De Beers boasts that 100% of their diamonds are conflict free.
Who controls the world's diamond supply?
De Beers, founded in 1888, specializes in diamond exploration, mining, trading, retail, and industrial diamond manufacturing. At its peak, the international juggernaut owned 85% of the market.
How can you tell a raw diamond?
Put the diamond under the loupe or microscope and look for rounded edges that have tiny indented triangles. Cubic diamonds, on the other hand, will have parallelograms or rotated squares. A real raw diamond should also appear like it has a coat of vaseline over it. Cut diamonds will have sharp edges.
Why are diamonds so valuable?
Diamonds were formed billions of years ago and are extremely rare because so few are able to survive the difficult journey from the pits of the earth to reach the earth's surface. From the diamonds that are being mined today, only about 50 percent are thought to be high enough quality to be sold on the diamond market.
How much money does De Beers make?
Total revenue increased significantly to $5.6 billion(1) (2020: $3.4 billion), with rough diamond sales rising to $4.9 billion(1) (2020: $2.8 billion), driven by positive sentiment and strong demand for diamond jewellery in key consumer markets.
Does De Beers still control the diamond market?
Today, De Beers no longer has control of the diamond industry, and for the first time in a century, market supply and demand dynamics, not the De Beers monopoly, drives diamond prices.
How wealthy are the De Beers?
In 2021, the revenue of diamond mining company De Beers was about 5.6 billion U.S. dollars....Revenue of De Beers from 2011 to 2021 (in million U.S. dollars)CharacteristicRevenue in million U.S. dollars20194,60520186,08220175,84120166,0687 more rows
How much is the De Beers family worth?
His son Harry consolidated the family wealth with De Beers and Anglo American – a pile, according to Forbes, that stands at $7.5 billion.
What is the lawsuit against DeBeers?
Several class action lawsuits against DeBeers and its affiliates claimed that the largest supplier of the world's diamonds violated antitrust, unfair competition, and consumer-protection laws by monopolizing diamond supplies, conspiring to fix, raise, and control diamond prices, and disseminating false and misleading advertising.
How much did the DeBeers diamond settlement cost?
Five years after it was announced, checks finally began going out to consumers this month in the $300 million DeBeers diamond settlement.
When did the Consumer Class stop selling diamonds?
The consumer class includes those who bought "any diamond or diamond jewelry or other products containing gem diamonds for personal use and not for resale between January 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006," according to the settlement.
What happens if you buy a diamond in the last decade?
In any case, if you’ve bought a diamond in the last decade or so, you are owed money, and you should collect it. We’ll keep you informed how to do that.
Is De Beers a monopoly?
De Beers will agree to abide by American anti-trust laws, and they are enjoined from ever being a real monopoly again, but that was likely not in the cards anyway. In the end the lawyers are the only ones really profiting (to the tune of about $20 to $30 million).
Who is the lawyer behind the De Beers settlement?
I talked the other day with Joseph Tabacco, one of the lawyers behind the $300 million De Beers anti-trust settlement, and he gave me an interesting update on how the money is being distributed …
