De Beers

[e-mail]

De Beers and the Diamond Monopoly
Report - Guide Thomas Schieder I.-No.: 648792 SS00 – Wirtschaftsrecht SuK - Economic Policy

1. History 1.1 De Beers and the Diamond Cartel 1.2 Cecil Rhodes and the discovery of Diamonds in South Africa 1.3 Evolution of the Cartel 1.4 The Cartel in action 1.5 Stockpiling

2. U. S. Antitrust Law 2.1 History and Motivation 2.1.1 The Sherman Act 2.1.2 The Clayton Act 2.2 Extraterritoriality

3. De Beers in 2000

Sources:

- Harvard Business Review: N9 – 700 – 082; Case Study on De Beers - http://www.dse.de/za/lis/botswana/botswana.htm

Thanks to Mark Irvine, Investor Relations Manager, De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., Johannesburg, South Africa

[e-mail]

1.
1.1

History
De Beers and the Diamond Cartel

For centuries, Diamonds have been regarded as one of the most valuable commodities (Waren) in the world. They have been the stuff of legend and the privilege of royalty, the symbol of romance and of greed (Gier). They have been treasured (geschätzt) of their beauty, their hardness and their unique ability to capture (erobern) and transform light. Most of all, however, diamonds have been treasured because they are rare. In ancient times this scarcity (Knappheit) was real. Known to exist only in the riverbeds of India and jungles of Brazil, diamonds were the most exclusive of stones and only a tiny portion of the world´s people had ever seen one, much less worn one. Then, by the end of the 19th century the South African mines have been discovered and they brought an avalanche (Lawine) of stones into the market. Suddenly the privilege was transformed into a commodity for the mass. At this time the vast change of supply of Diamonds had little effect on their price because there was a deeply ingrained perception (tief verwurzelte Auffassung) around the stones even they were cascading into the markets of Europe. Realising that Diamonds would be virtually worthless once they appeared