Editing De Beers (section)

===21st-century changes {{Anchor |Diamond monopoly }}===
[[File:Vladimir Putin in South Africa 5-6 September 2006-16.jpg|thumb|right|Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] meeting former De Beers chairman [[Nicky Oppenheimer]] in South Africa in 2006]]

During the 20th century, De Beers used several methods to leverage its dominant position to influence the international diamond market.<ref name="Kretchmer">{{cite web |url=http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~lcabral/teaching/debeers3.pdf |title=De Beers and Beyond:The History of the International Diamond Cartel |publisher=[[New York University]] |author=Tobias Kretschmer |date=15 October 2003 |access-date=25 November 2008}}</ref><ref name="Lopus"/> First, it attempted to convince independent producers to join its single [[Distribution (business)|channel]] monopoly. When that did not work, it flooded the market with diamonds similar to those of producers who refused to join in, depressing their price and undermining return for the resistant. It also purchased and stockpiled diamonds produced by other manufacturers as well as surplus diamonds in order to control prices by limiting [[Supply and demand|supply]].<ref name="Campbell"/> Finally, it bought diamonds when prices fell considerably naturally, to constrict supply and drive their value back up, such as during the Great Depression.<ref>William Boyes; Michael Melvin (1 January 2012). Microeconomics. Cengage Learning. pp. 219–. {{ISBN|1-133-71216-9}}.</ref>

In 2000, the De Beers business model changed<ref name="Campbell">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gz-5QCLlLaEC |title=Economics: Principles, Problems, and Policies |page=456 |author=Campbell R. McConnell, Stanley L. Brue |publisher=McGraw-Hill Professional |year=2005 |access-date=26 November 2008 |isbn=978-0-07-281935-9}}</ref> because of factors such as the decision by producers in Canada and Australia to distribute diamonds outside the De Beers channel,<ref name="Kretchmer"/><ref name="Lopus">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sI65nv9KAfgC |title=Capstone |author=Jane S. Lopus |publisher=National Council on Economic Education |access-date=25 November 2008 |page=61 |isbn=1-56183-516-1 |year=2003}}</ref> as well as increasingly negative publicity surrounding [[blood diamond]]s, which forced De Beers to protect its image by limiting sales to its own mined products.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/node/21538145 |title=Betting on De Beers |newspaper=The Economist |date=12 November 2011}}</ref>

The combination of a more fragmented and thus more competitive diamond market, increased transparency, and greater [[Market liquidity|liquidity]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21582575-jewellery-thefts-are-much-more-spectacular-another-french-exception |title=A diamond heist in Cannes |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=3 August 2013 |access-date=2 April 2014}}</ref> caused De Beers's market share of rough diamonds to fall from as high as 90% in the 1980s to 29.5% in 2019.<ref name="Anglo American">{{cite web |title=De Beers Analyst and Investor Seminar 2014 |url=http://angloamerican.com/~/media/Files/A/Anglo-American-PLC-V2/presentations/2014pres/de-beers-analyst-seminar-presentation.pdf |website=angloamerican.com |publisher=Anglo American |ref=Slide 13}}</ref>{{third-party inline|date=October 2022}}

Seeing these developing trends, the Oppenheimer family announced in November 2011 its intention to sell its entire 40% stake in De Beers to [[Anglo American plc]], thereby increasing Anglo American's ownership of the company to 85% (with the remaining 15% owned by the Government of the Republic of Botswana).<ref name=ownership>{{cite news |url=http://mg.co.za/article/2011-11-04-oppenheimers-leave-the-diamond-race-with-5bn-sale |title=Oppenheimers leave the diamond race with $5bn sale |newspaper=Mail and Guardian |date=4 November 2011 |access-date=5 November 2011 |author=AFP}}</ref>
The transaction was worth £3.2 billion (US$5.1 billion) in cash and ended the Oppenheimer dynasty's 80-year ownership of De Beers.<ref name=Guardian>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/nov/04/anglo-american-debeers-diamonds |title=Anglo American gains controlling stake in De Beers |newspaper=The Guardian |date=4 November 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-04/anglo-american-agrees-to-buy-de-beers-oppenheimer-stake-for-5-1-billion?category=%2Fnews%2Fmostread |title=Anglo American Ends Oppenheimers' De Beers Dynasty With $5.1 Billion Deal |date=4 November 2011 |work=Bloomberg}}</ref>

In 2020, the De Beers Company released a statement of a values change, promising the world that it is committed to not using slave labor within the company.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=21 June 2021 |title=DE BEERS PLC MODERN SLAVERY ACT STATEMENT |url=https://www.debeersgroup.com/~/media/Files/D/De-Beers-Group-V2/documents/uk-modern-slavery-act/uk-modern-slavery-statement-december-2020.pdf |access-date=30 November 2023 |website=DeBeers}}</ref>

In 2025, De Beers reported holding an inventory of unsold mined diamonds valued at approximately US$2 billion. The company attributed this to a decline in demand for natural diamonds, driven in part by the growing popularity of lab-grown diamonds, which have become significantly more affordable. By 2025, lab-grown diamonds were reported to be approximately 90% less expensive than their mined counterparts, compared to a 10% price difference in 2018.<ref name="Walmart" />