Antonie Roux, hailed as an inspirational leader and a pioneer of the Internet industry, has died at the age of 54, after undergoing surgery.
CEO of Internet Global Operations, at Naspers, and holding company MIH head since 2002, Roux passed away in a German hospital yesterday. He reportedly had pancreatic cancer.
Known as a family man, Roux is survived by his wife, Sonja, and three children - Andr'e, Petronel and Mart'e.
Twitter tribute
Micro-blogging site Twitter bears witness to the reverence the IT industry held for Roux, whose death it is said will be a “huge loss” for media company Naspers.
Shortly after the news broke, World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck tweeted: “Tragic. He was always so engaged. RT @media24: We mourn the sad loss of Antonie Roux head of MIH and Naspers' Internet operations worldwide.”
Business Day editor Peter Bruce said in a post: “That's a huge loss to Naspers.”
Mohak Gambhir, from Delhi in India, said: “RIP Antonie Roux. You were a bundle of energy and wisdom whenever we met. The Internet is going to miss you.”
Tank Lanning tweeted: “Really sad to hear of the death of Antonie Roux ... He ignited my interest in the Internet, and was such a passionate man. RIP meneer ...As the head of MWeb at the time, Antonie Roux gave up a whole day to help me with my plans for an online division at Touchline Media.” (sic)
Many others shared similar sentiments, describing Roux as “an inspiration to a great many people”; “consummate gentleman”; “brilliant mind and a lover of life”; “fantastically smart, awesome individual” and “visionary and a gentleman”.
Life and times
Roux joined multinational mass media company Naspers (Nasionale Pers) in December 1979, as a junior technician. Just three years later, in 1982, he was promoted to head of Naspers' IT department.
Update
Ton Vosloo, Naspers chairman, says Roux was a pioneer in the Internet space, and "one of the big builders of the new media".
CEO Koos Bekker says Roux had a lust for life second to none. "He was curious about everything and everyone; and very loyal. He was one of the few people worldwide that made a seamless transition from print media to television and the Internet."
Naspers says Bekker will assume responsibility for the group's Internet division, until such time as a successor to Roux is appointed.
In April 1985, he joined MNet as head of IT. One of the founding members, Roux headed the division at MNet until December 1989. In January 1990, he moved to Milan, Italy, where he was appointed head of projects at Telepiu (Pay TV). From October 1991 to December 1996, he worked as technical director at MIH Nethold, Hoofddorp, the Netherlands, and shortly thereafter, in January 1997, was appointed CEO of MWeb.
Moving on, following the success of MWeb in the Internet industry, Roux was appointed CEO of MIH Internet Division in August 2002, and relocated to Bangkok, Thailand. Under Roux's guidance, Naspers' Internet businesses saw significant growth. In December 2006, the group bought 30% of Internet Group Mail.ru in Moscow, the media giant's first investment in Russia.
In August 2008, Roux was awarded the highest accolade within the Naspers Group - the Phil Weber Award - for excellence throughout a career.
In 2001, Roux was featured on the cover of ITWeb's first edition of Brainstorm magazine. The headline read: “MWeb: The big black hole. Naspers' prodigal son may be back, but can the media giant brighten Roux's future?”
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