10 things you should know about Hassen Adams

Hassen Adams is the founder of Grand Parade Investment.10 things you should know about Hassen Adams.

1. It was in 1997, more than 22 years ago, that Adams started building an empire, when he founded GPI.
2. Hassen, speaking in a frank phone interview, said “that was a meagre R28m. It has paid back more than 150 times. I’m proud of what we could do for people.”
3. Earlier this year, Adams was ill with cancer.
4. He has successfully navigated a recovery path.
5. Talking of stepping down, he said: “I have done my job. I have had a major send off at Grand Parade Investments and it’s an amazing feeling to know that I allowed people who were never part of the mainstream economy to be part of it. We established a BEE income before that was a word in our vocabulary and nobody has been denied.”
6. The latter has allowed him to own one of the top 10 stud farms, in the Hemel-en-Aarde valley, where his horses have been champions in top races.
7. He also owns a farm overlooking the Atlantic Ocean on the West Coast.
8. Adams became an entrepreneur by the age of 10.
9. Adams sold newspapers in Hanover Street, while sleeping in the corridor of his aunt’s small house.
10. After high school he started working as a technician, and he would later earn a qualification as a professional engineering technician – one of the first students to earn a Diploma in Civil Engineering from the Peninsula Technikon.