{"id":255237,"date":"2018-06-29T11:28:53","date_gmt":"2018-06-29T09:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=255237"},"modified":"2018-06-29T16:13:32","modified_gmt":"2018-06-29T14:13:32","slug":"the-south-african-tech-billionaire-youve-probably-never-heard-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/technology\/255237\/the-south-african-tech-billionaire-youve-probably-never-heard-of\/","title":{"rendered":"The South African tech billionaire you’ve probably never heard of"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cartrack is a local success story. The company is a global provider of fleet management, stolen vehicle recovery and insurance telematics services – but it is in South Africa, amid high crime rates, that it really comes into its own.<\/p>\n

Results from its most recent reporting period – the year ended February 2018 – showed that Cartrack\u2019s subscriber numbers grew by a whopping 25%, to 751,380. Subscription revenue, meanwhile, climbed 19% to R1.166 billion.<\/p>\n

The South Africa segment delivered particularly strong results, Cartrack said. Subscription revenue increased by 18% year on year while subscribers grew 26% over the same period.<\/p>\n

Having only commenced operations in 2004, Cartrack listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange\u00a0 in 2014.<\/p>\n

An extensive footprint is already well established in Africa, Europe and South East Asia; more recently, operations have been opened in America and New Zealand and the company now employs as many as 2,000 people.<\/p>\n

The man behind Cartrack’s success, is co-founder and chief executive, Zak Calisto, who – thanks to his shares in the company – can also count himself on the country’s list of billionaires.<\/p>\n

According to the group’s annual integrated report, published on Friday, Calisto continues to be rewarded for Cartrack’s rise. He took home a relatively modest total pay package of R3.3 million for the year ended February 2018. This compares to a much higher median average<\/a> <\/strong>for chief executives who run JSE-listed companies.<\/p>\n

The group’s chief financial officer,\u00a0John Edmeston, took home the higher pay package of R3.9 million, largely due to his bonus of R1.7 million. Calisto’s bonus was only R201,000.<\/p>\n

In its reporting, Cartrack also included the proposed salaries for its executives for the 2019 financial year, showing no increase from 2018.<\/p>\n

In total, the group paid a total of R9.6 million to five executive and non-executive directors.<\/p>\n

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Calisto’s wealth is derived from his significant shareholding in Cartrack, which is at 203,980,424 shares – or 68% of the total shareholding.<\/p>\n

With Cartrack shares trading at R17.00 (29 June), this means Calisto is worth at least R3.47 billion.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cartrack performance<\/strong><\/p>\n

For its full year results to February 2018, Cartrack reported an operating profit of R434 million, from R369 million before.<\/p>\n

Additional highlights:<\/p>\n