Koos Bekker

Koos Bekker is revered for transforming South African newspaper publisher Naspers into an e-commerce investor and cable TV powerhouse.

He led Naspers to pay a reported $34 million for a third of Chinese Internet firm Tencent Holdings in 2001--perhaps the greatest venture investment ever.

In 2019, Naspers put some assets into two publicly-traded companies, entertainment firm MultiChoice Group and Prosus, which contains the Tencent stake

Naspers has sold down its stake in Tencent over the years and today owns less than 25%.

Bekker, who retired as the CEO of Naspers in March 2014, returned as chairman in April 2015.

His Babylonstoren estate, nearly 600 acres in South Africa's Western Cape region, features architecture dating back to 1690, a farm, orchard and vineyard and more.