South African millionaire Koos Bekker, known for his extensive investments in the IT industry, has seen his net worth plummet by $100 million in the last 41 days. This represents a decline in the market value of his wide portfolio of technology holdings.
Bekker, a top figure among South Africa’s richest individuals and one of Africa’s top billionaires, has seen his net worth drop by $100 million in recent times, from $2.4 billion on Aug. 14 to $2.3 billion at the time of writing this report, according to data tracked by the U.S. business magazine Forbes.
The recent $100-million drop in Bekker’s net worth has turned his previous year-to-date gains of $100 million into a year-to-date loss of $100 million, owing to the recent drop in the market value of his 0.85-percent stake in Africa’s largest publicly traded company, Naspers, as well as his 0.72-percent stake in Prosus N.V., a global internet entity under the South African conglomerate Naspers.
Naspers’ share price on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange has decreased by more than 6.28 percent in the last 41 days, falling from R3,325.82 ($177.33) on Aug. 14 to R3,117.02 ($166.20), lowering the value of Bekker’s 1,687,887 holding below the $285-million mark.
Similarly, Prosus shares on the Euronext Exchange in Amsterdam have dropped more than 4.4 percent in recent weeks, falling from €29.98 ($31.98) on Aug. 14 to €28.66 ($30.57) at the time of this article. As a result of this loss, the market value of Koss Bekker’s Prosus share has fallen below $600 million.
Despite these failures, Bekker remains one of Africa’s wealthiest billionaires, with a net worth of $2.3 billion. His recent financial difficulties highlight the underlying volatility of the IT investing sector, reminding us of the volatile nature of wealth in a quickly moving business.
