Portrait of Koos Bekker

Rank #1259

Koos Bekker

Net worth $3.4B

Media, investments · South Africa

Born
Dec 14, 1952
Age
73
Source
Media, investments
Residence
Cape Town
Citizenship
South Africa
Marital status
Married
Children
2
Education
Master of Business Administration, Columbia Business School; LLB, University of Witwatersrand

Net worth over time

Biography

  • Koos Bekker is revered for transforming South African newspaper publisher Naspers into an e-commerce investor and cable TV powerhouse.
  • He led Naspers to pay a reported $34 million for a third of Chinese Internet firm Tencent Holdings in 2001--perhaps the greatest venture investment ever.
  • In 2019, Naspers put some assets into two publicly-traded companies, entertainment firm MultiChoice Group and Prosus, which contains the Tencent stake
  • Naspers has sold down its stake in Tencent over the years and today owns less than 25%.
  • Bekker, who retired as the CEO of Naspers in March 2014, returned as chairman in April 2015.
  • His Babylonstoren estate, nearly 600 acres in South Africa's Western Cape region, features architecture dating back to 1690, a farm, orchard and vineyard and more.

Financial assets

Exchange Ticker Company Shares Price Currency