The crown jewel of the diamond industry is losing its luster. De Beers, once the undisputed monarch of the diamond world, suffered another crushing blow as its parent company Anglo AmericanAAL

, wrote down its value by $2.9B. This marks the second major writedown in two years as lab-grown competitors and weakened Chinese spending continue to challenge the business. The iconic company that convinced the world “a diamond is forever” now sits at a modest $4B valuation — less than half its worth from just two years ago.

• De Beers posted an underlying loss of $25M in 2024, a stark contrast to its $72M profit the previous year, as rough diamond prices plunged ~50% over the past 24 months.
• The firm’s inventory headache continues to grow, with $2B in unsold diamonds stockpiling as Chinese retailers begin offloading their polished stones back into the midstream market.

Polishing the plan: Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad doesn’t expect “much traction or progress” on plans to spin off De Beers until the second half of 2025. The company has received unsolicited interest from potential buyers, with Botswana’s government — already a 15% stakeholder — likely to play a key role in any future sale. For now, the diamond giant’s strategy involves cutting production by 10M carats this year, hoping to stabilize prices in an increasingly fragmented market.