South Africa is getting a new dollar billionaire

Zak Calisto, founder and chief executive officer of fleet management and telematics multinational Karooooo, is geared up to be South Africa’s newest dollar billionaire, with his current direct holdings in the group approaching the mark and his beneficial ownership already valued over $1.1 billion.
Calisto directly owns 65% of the group’s shares, with another 10% of the company tied to him through a standing agreement, giving him beneficial voting rights.
On Wednesday (15 January), the company carried a market capitalisation of $1.47 billion, putting Calisto’s direct stake at over $950 million, and his ‘beneficial’ valuation at $1.1 billion.
Karooooo, formerly known as Cartrack, is a global provider of fleet management, stolen vehicle recovery and insurance telematics services. The company was founded in 2001 and listed on the JSE in 2014.
The group has experienced exponential growth over the years, growing from vehicle tracking to fleet management and various mobility software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms for connected vehicles.
Its global expansion has also been extensive. Starting in South Africa, it quickly moved into the rest of Africa, then Europe, Asia and the Americas.
The company is now headquartered in Singapore and operates in 24 countries.
Calisto controls 20,028,811 of the company’s shares, giving him a direct 64.81% stake valued at about $953,000—just short of dollar-billionaire status.
However, he also technically controls an additional 3,140,000 shares through a group called One Spire (Pty) Ltd.
Karooooo noted that there is a standing agreement that if Calisto’s beneficial ownership falls to below 51% of the company’s issued and outstanding shares, One Spire will cast all votes it controls as directed by Calisto.
While these shares are not owned by Calisto, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) counts these as sole voting power attributed to Calisto and are considered beneficially owned by the CEO in terms of voting power.
This means that Calisto has an effective 74.97% beneficial ownership of the company, valued at $1.1 billion—comfortably crossing the threshold to dollar-billionaire status.
Forbes currently lists six dollar billionaires in South Africa, led by Johann Rupert with a net worth of $11.2 billion, and Capitec founder Michiel le Roux ranked sixth at $1.6 billion.
Calisto’s estimated net worth of $1.1 billion would place him in seventh position, but prospects look good for the CEO’s wealth to keep growing as his company’s fortunes do not seem to be waning in the least.
On Wednesday, the group reported its results for the third quarter, ending November 2024, showing remarkable growth.
Karooooo’s operating profit increased 18% to R325 million (Q3 2024: R275 million) and earnings per share 21% to R7.68 (Q3 2024: R6.34).
Other highlights include:
- Cartrack subscribers increased 17% to 2,223,227 at 30 November 2024 (Q3 2024: 1,908,192)
- Net Cartrack subscriber additions increased 15% to 86,617 (Q3 2024: 75,484)
- Karooooo’s subscription revenue increased 14% to R1.032 billion (Q3 2024: R904 million)
- Cartrack’s subscription revenue increased 14% to R1.029 million (Q3 2024: R900 million)
- Karooooo Logistics’s B2B delivery-as-a-service revenue increased 20% to R109 million (Q3 2024: ZAR91 million)
The nine-month review (up to the end of Q3) all showed double-digit growth for the group.
According to Calisto, the group is poised for even more growth, with customer acquisitions shooting up amid continued expansion into new territories.
“Importantly, we have now settled in our newly built central office in South Africa, and now look forward to strong organic growth in this region.
“Our investment in Europe over the last few quarters is starting to yield exciting results. Southeast Asia’s subscription revenue grew by 26% on a constant currency basis and remains our biggest medium to long-term opportunity,” he said.
Looking ahead, Karooooo said it expects a bumper year in 2025, with subscribers projected at 2.4 million, and subscription revenue at R4.1 billion.
“We operate in a growing and largely underpenetrated market, with strong demand from customers needing to be competitive and digitalise their operations.
“Our proven, robust and consistently profitable business model, underpinned by a strong balance sheet and healthy cash position, gives us multiple levers for expansion. We expect our continuous investment in our AI products, platform and customer experience to generate robust results in the future,” it said.
This article has been updated to clarify Calisto’s direct and beneficial share ownership of the group.
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