The best age to be rich and successful in SA
A new report by New World Wealth reveals the average age of South Africa’s multi-millionaires.
According to NWW, the average age of a multi-millionaire in SA, namely an individual with wealth of at least US$10 million, is 55 years. This is slightly below the worldwide average of approximately 56 years.
The majority of them, 37%, are aged between 51 and 60 years, while 20% are between the ages of 61-70, and 9% are 70 and older.
In South Africa, the country’s billionaires are aged between 50 (Stephen Saad) and 77 (Allan Gray). The richest man in the country, Johann Rupert, is 67 years old.
Interestingly, however, 34% of the country’s multi-millionaires are actually under 50, with 28% between 41-50, and 6% under the age of 40. This would suggest quite a reasonable amount of entrepreneurial activity in the country.
The tech sector, in particular, has created some of the world’s youngest billionaires over the past decade, and in the US, Internet companies have created more billionaires than any other sector.
SA’s successful entrepreneurs
MyBroadband has published infographics detailing South Africa’s top technology entrepreneurs, at what age they founded their businesses, and what they did before starting those businesses.
Many of South Africa’s top technology entrepreneurs, including Vinny Lingham, Matthew Tagg, and Rob Stokes, started successful tech ventures while they were still very young.
However, a younger starter it is certainly not the rule, as other local tech entrepreneurs, like Herman Heunis and John Holdsworth, founded successful businesses in their 40s, once they had gained valuable experience.
The following infographic provides an overview of when some of South Africa’s top technology entrepreneurs stated their biggest businesses.
When SA entrepreneurs started their first business
What they did before
There is a common denominator when looking at technology entrepreneurs – they love technology.
However, what is less homogeneous is what these business founders did before they started their first venture.
Local tech entrepreneurs had a wide range of jobs before they started their first business, ranging from salesmen to a deckhand on super yachts.
The following image gives an overview of what SA’s top tech entrepreneurs did before they started their first tech venture.
What SA tech entrepreneurs did before their first business
Other ventures
A common thread in the lives of successful technology entrepreneurs is that they typically start many businesses: some successful, others not.
All entrepreneurs who MyBroadband spoke to gave the same advice: failures are part of business. Learn from it, and use this knowledge in future ventures.
The following infographic shows the businesses founded by some of South Africa’s serial entrepreneurs.
Businesses started by SA tech entrepreneurs – successes and failures
This article was republished with permission from MyBroadband, additional reporting with BusinessTech.
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