Koos Bekker was born on December 14, 1952 in Cape Town, South Africa, South Africa. Bekker is revered as an astute executive who transformed South African newspaper publisher Naspers into an ecommerce investor & cable TV powerhouse.
He led Naspers to invest in Chinese Internet and media firm Tencent in 2001 -- by far the most profitable of the bets he made on companies elsewhere.
Bekker, who retired as the CEO of Naspers in March 2014, returned as chairman in April 2015.
During his tenure as CEO, which began in 1997, Bekker oversaw a rise in the market capitalization of Naspers from about $600 million to $45 billion.
During that time, he drew no salary, bonus, or benefits and was compensated via stock option grants that vested over time.
Koos Bekker is a member of Media & Entertainment
Does Koos Bekker Dead or Alive?
As per our current Database, Koos Bekker is still alive (as per Wikipedia, Last update: May 10, 2020).
🎂 Koos Bekker - Age, Bio, Faces and Birthday
Currently, Koos Bekker is 72 years, 0 months and 8 days old. Koos Bekker will celebrate 73rd birthday on a Sunday 14th of December 2025. Below we countdown to Koos Bekker upcoming birthday.
Popular As |
Koos Bekker |
Occupation |
Media & Entertainment |
Age |
72 years old |
Zodiac Sign |
Capricorn |
Born |
December 14, 1952 (Cape Town, South Africa, South Africa) |
Birthday |
December 14 |
Town/City |
Cape Town, South Africa, South Africa |
Nationality |
South Africa |
🌙 Zodiac
Koos Bekker’s zodiac sign is Capricorn. According to astrologers, Capricorn is a sign that represents time and responsibility, and its representatives are traditional and often very serious by nature. These individuals possess an inner state of independence that enables significant progress both in their personal and professional lives. They are masters of self-control and have the ability to lead the way, make solid and realistic plans, and manage many people who work for them at any time. They will learn from their mistakes and get to the top based solely on their experience and expertise.
🌙 Chinese Zodiac Signs
Koos Bekker was born in the Year of the Dragon. A powerful sign, those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Dragon are energetic and warm-hearted, charismatic, lucky at love and egotistic. They’re natural born leaders, good at giving orders and doing what’s necessary to remain on top. Compatible with Monkey and Rat.
Biography/Timeline
1952
Koos Bekker was born in Potchefstroom, South Africa on 14 December 1952. Bekker received his school education from Hoër Volkskool Heidelberg and completed degrees from Stellenbosch University in Law and Literature and Wits University in Law. During his studies in Stellenbosch he was a hostel boarder of Eendrag Manskoshuis.
1984
After a few years in advertising he read an MBA degree at Columbia Business School, graduating in 1984. As a result of a project paper, he, and a few young colleagues founded one of the first two pay television services outside the US. M-Net and its sister companies like Multichoice eventually expanded to 48 countries across Africa. In the 1990s, he was a founding Director of mobile communication company MTN. 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.
Koos Bekker trend