Forbes lists the outgoing Naspers CEO, Koos Bekker, as having an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion. They rank him as the 24th wealthiest person in Africa. There’s one important fact that you should consider when looking at his net worth, he is a self made billionaire.

Bekker made his billion mainly from three very well known SA tech companies. While he was studying his MBA in the US, Bekker noticed the growing cable TV market. With the backing of Naspers, he was able to start M-Net, becoming one of its founding directors. M-Net is now available in 48 different countries. Always having a keen eye for new technologies, Bekker saw the growing use of cellphones in the early 90’s. Again with the backing of Naspers, Becker started Mobile Telephone Technologies, or MTN as it is commonly known by today. It is currently the biggest mobile operator on the African continent. 

In 1997 Bekker also convinced Naspers to invest in the internet, while the technology hadn’t taken hold yet in South Africa. Naspers websites News24 and Fin24 are now the biggest websites in SA. In 2008 Bekker signed a contract with Naspers to be paid in company shares only – worth R125 at the time. He now sits with 16.4 million Naspers shares, worth about R20 billion currently.

To read more on the outgoing Naspers CEO, click here. 

[ Source : Fin24 ]