Co-founder and funder (with Sir Julius Wernher) of the Royal School of Mines building.
Born Hamburg, learnt the diamond trade in Amsterdam and went to Kimberley where he met Wernher and Cecil Rhodes. In 1884 he and Wernher converted the firm Jules Porgès & Co into Wernher, Beit & Co. On his death he left vast sums of money for education and research in South Africa, Rhodesia, Britain and Germany.
His brother Otto, also made a fortune in the diamond trade. See Otto's page for the difficulties this is causing Imperial College in 2021.
