De Beers has promoted two notable up-and-comers. Gareth Penny, architect of Supplier of Choice and JCK‘s “Person of the Year” for 2003, was named managing director (president) of the Diamond Trading Company, De Beers’ marketing arm.

Current chairman Nicholas Oppenheimer’s son Jonathan, “regarded by many as the heir apparent to the De Beers throne,” according to the South African press, has been named managing director of De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM), which oversees the country’s South African mines. DBCM became a separate entity as part of a reorganization, which, analysts say, protects non-South African assets from the effects of a new South African mining law.

Gary Ralfe remains managing director of the De Beers Group of Companies.