Koos Bekker, South African businessman, is the chairman of the media group Naspers – and that’s an entity we are all familiar with, whether we know it or not. Naspers is the parent organisation of Media 24 and Takealot, it’s the largest media company outside of the US, China and India and it has a total value that runs into the billions (in US dollars). So it is a pretty big deal. And so is Koos Bekker. In fact, he is one of the wealthiest South Africans ever. Full stop.
But, and this is what the book explores, how did he manage it? How did he go from working in advertising to jointly founding MNET and MTN and finally ending up as the third richest person in SA (as of 2020)? What were his strategies, and how did he land on the deal – a risky play involving Chinese tech startup Tencent – that skyrocketed Naspers to its current influential heights? In Koos Bekker’s Billions, business journalist T. J. Strydom takes a detailed look at Bekker’s life and career, evaluating business decisions and identifying successful patterns on the way. Ultimately, he lands on fifteen of the most standout and effective strategies employed by Bekker during his incredible rise to extraordinary wealth – making Koos Bekker’s Billions not just an interesting look into a personality from whom we seldom hear directly, but also an illuminating read for anyone looking to make their fortune in high-stakes business.
Happy Reading!