Koos Bekker

Koos Bekker
Born	(1952-12-14)14 December 1952 Potchefstroom,North West,South Africa
Alma mater	University of the Witwatersrand Columbia University
Occupation	Chair of Naspers
Spouse	Karen Roos
Children	4

Jacobus Petrus "Koos" Bekker(born 14 December 1952) is a South Africanbillionairebusinessman, and the chairman of media groupNaspers.The company operates in 130 countries and is listed on theLondon Stock ExchangeandJohannesburg Stock Exchange.It has the largestmarket capitalizationof any media company outside the US, China and India. As of July 2023, his net worth was estimated at US$2.4 billion.

Early life

Koos Bekker was born inPotchefstroom,South Africa in 1952.He attended Hoër Volkskool Heidelberg and completed degrees atStellenbosch University,in law and literature, and atWits University,in law.He holds an MBA fromColumbia Business School,New York and an honorary doctorate fromStellenbosch University.

Career

After a few years in advertising, he received an MBA degree fromColumbia Business School,graduating in 1984. As a result of a project paper, he, with a few young colleagues, founded one of the first two pay-television services outside of the US.M-Netand its sister companies, such as Multichoice, eventually expanded to 48 countries across Africa. In the 1990s, he was a founding director of mobile communication companyMTN.In 1997 Bekker became CEO of Naspers, one of the initial investors in the M-Net/Multichoice group.Naspers bought out the other shareholders. During his tenure, the market capitalization of Naspers grew from about $1.2 billion to $45 billion. His compensation package was unusual in that for fifteen years as CEO he earned no salary, bonus or perks. He was compensated solely via stock option grants that vested over time.

Under Bekker, Naspers invested in pay television, mobile telephony and various internet services. The group conducts business in Europe, Africa, Latin America, China, India, Russia, and various smaller countries.

In 2020, former South African Minister for Communications,Yunus Carrimtestified to the Zondo Commission into State Capture that Bekker had played a significant role in irregularly pressuring government officials to protect MultiChoice's effective monopoly over South Africa's pay-TV sector. Carrim stated that this was done by lobbying government to prevent the opening up and rollout of encryption capacity in set-top boxes. MultiChoice has denied these allegations, noting that Carrim confirmed that he had no personal knowledge of any fraud or corruption on MultiChoice's part.

The Constitutional Court has held that Government's digital migration policy is not centered around individual players in the broadcasting industry and that the policy decision to dump decryption capability in government subsidized DTT set top boxes was in the best interests of the poor and the broader public.[Electronic Media Network Limited and Others v e.tv (Pty) Limited and Others2017 (9) BCLR 1108 (CC).

Personal life

Bekker is married to Karen Roos, has two children and resides in Cape Town, South Africa.The couple have been responsible for developingHadspen HousenearCastle CaryinSomerset,England, as The Newt in Somerset, a luxury hotel and visitor attraction in extensive grounds.