Koos Bekker, who is credited with Naspers' successful forays into Internet businesses, is worth R16.4 billion through his stake in Naspers N shares, a figure that leapt from R12.5 billion last year.
Vestact analyst Sasha Naryshkine points out that Naspers' stock price has recently had a run, with shares currently trading at R834.90 - a 52-week high.
Naryshkine says the gain in the value of the stock is because of a Facebook re-rating over the last eight trading sessions, while Tencent, in which Naspers has a 34% stake through its MIH subsidiary, is up 33.3% since 25 June.
Facebook, in which Naspers has an indirect stake through its share in Mail.ru, has seen its stock recover to listing levels, Naryshkine points out. He notes there had been concerns as to whether it could monetise mobile, but by the time it reports its next quarterly results, advertising on mobile may account for nearly half of all revenue.
No salary
Naryshkine points out that Bekker does not earn a salary as CEO of Naspers, but is effectively a 4% shareholder in the company. The annual report states: "No salary, bonus, car scheme, medical or pension contributions of any nature are payable [to Bekker]."
Naryshkine adds that shareholders must remember that, in large part, it was and is "his visionary thinking that made them a fortune, so far, of course". He says Bekker was in his 30s when he decided satellite was the next big thing and quite a few of his concepts have paid off. "Sometimes the genius needs to be rewarded."
Bekker (59) led the founding team of M-Net/MultiChoice pay-television business in 1985 and headed the MIH group in its international and Internet expansion until 1997, when he became Naspers' CEO.
In the year to March, Naspers turned over R50.2 billion and said it intends to expand e-commerce businesses across emerging markets and build its pay-television subscriber base across Africa.
Overall, Internet revenue grew 80%, to R34.6 billon, while trading profit gained 44%, to R6.2 billion. E-commerce revenue doubled to R11.4 billion, through a combination of organic growth and a few acquisitions, it said.
Pay-television revenue gained 20%, at R30.3 billion, as growth came mostly from an increase in the net subscriber base, which gained 1.1 million to reach 6.7 million houses in 48 - out of 54 - countries in Africa.
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