10 South African Entrepreneurs Who Built Global Brands
10 South African Entrepreneurs Who Built Global Brands. South Africa has produced several notable entrepreneurs who have made significant impacts globally. These entrepreneurs have made significant contributions across various industries, from technology and healthcare to media and finance, and have left an indelible mark on the global business landscape. Below are some of the South African entrepreneurs that have built global brands.
Vinny Lingham
Vinny Lingham m is a South African-born American entrepreneur. He is the co-founder & CEO of an identity protection and management startup based in California called Civic. He was also previously the founder and CEO of Gyft & Yola, Inc. He is also the co-founder of SiliconCape, an NGO based in South Africa that aims to turn Cape Town into a technology hub.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk is a South African-born American businessman. Musk is the current CEO & Chief Product Architect of Tesla, Inc., a company that makes electric vehicles. He is also the CEO of Solar City, a company that makes solar panels, and the CEO & CTO of SpaceX, an aerospace company. Musk is the second-wealthiest person in the world, according to Bloomberg and Forbes.
Adrian Gore
Adrian Gore is a South African businessman and entrepreneur. He is the founder and group chief executive of Discovery Limited. He launched Discovery in South Africa in 1992, with one purpose: to make people healthier and enhance their lives. Discovery is widely acknowledged as a global leader in wellness behavioural change and its integration with health, life and short-term insurance. Under Adrian’s leadership, Discovery and the Vitality Shared-Valued Insurance Model is present in 28 countries, serving over 20 million members worldwide.
Vusi Thembekwayo
Vusi Thembekwayo is a South African entrepreneur, author, businessman and a globally recognised speaker. He is the founder and CEO of the MyGrowthFund Venture Partners. He is also the author of two books.
Johann Rupert
Johann Rupert is a South African billionaire businessman, who is the eldest son of business tycoon Anton Rupert and his wife Huberte. He is the chairman of the Swiss-based luxury-goods company Richemont and the South Africa-based company Remgro.
Stephen Bradley Saad
Stephen Saad is a South African billionaire businessman, who is the founder and chief executive of Aspen Pharmacare, the largest producer of generic medicines in Africa.
Jacobus Petrus “Koos” Bekker
Jacobus Koos Bekker is a South African billionaire businessman, and the chairman of media group Naspers. The company operates in 130 countries and is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Patrick Soon-Shiong
Patrick Soon-Shiong is a South African and American businessman, investor, medical researcher, philanthropist, and transplant surgeon. He is the inventor of the drug Abraxane, which became known for its efficacy against lung, breast, and pancreatic ccancer.
Mark Shuttleworth
Mark Richard Shuttleworth is a South African and British entrepreneur who is the founder and CEO of Canonical, the company behind the development of the Linux-based Ubuntu operating system. In 2002, Shuttleworth became the first South African to travel to space, doing so as a space tourist.
Christo Wiese
Christoffel F. Hendrik Wiese is a South African businessman and billionaire. His source of wealth is consumer retail. After university, Wiese practised law at the Cape Bar for some years before working as a Director at Pepkor, the discount clothing chain that his parents helped to found. Under his leadership, Shoprite started out as a chain of eight supermarkets in Cape Town that was purchased for 1 million rand which grew into a multibillion-dollar business due to various acquisitions and expansion strategies made in the first 30 years of operations.
