{"id":787451,"date":"2024-08-19T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=787451"},"modified":"2024-08-19T12:41:06","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T10:41:06","slug":"the-secretive-billionaire-behind-south-africas-biggest-political-donations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/787451\/the-secretive-billionaire-behind-south-africas-biggest-political-donations\/","title":{"rendered":"The secretive billionaire behind South Africa\u2019s biggest political donations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Martin Moshal is a pioneer in the online gaming industry and the biggest individual political party donor in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moshal made headlines over the last year because of his multi-million donations to the Democratic Alliance (DA) and ActionSA ahead of the 2024 general elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He donated R35 million to the Democratic Alliance, R29.5 million to ActionSA, and R4 million to Build One South Africa (Bosa).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although he was prominently featured in the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) disclosures of political donations, Moshal is very secretive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He is notoriously media-shy, with no prominent interviews, and little is known about his business dealings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, historical documents about Moshal and his company, Microgaming, shed light on how he amassed his wealth and became a billionaire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moshal was born in Durban. He studied business science at the University of Cape Town and was ready to launch a new business as the Internet gained traction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He had an idea to develop online casino games through his software company but needed funding for the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He approached Discover Bank Limited for funding. However, he could not secure an investment without a good credit score or track record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Good fortune struck when he met merchant banker Roger Raatgever at the bank, who was willing to co-sign the loan for a 50% stake in the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moshal agreed, and he co-founded Microgaming. In 1994, the company launched The Gaming Club in South Africa using the domain casino.co.za.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The company continued developing new games and licensed online casino games, including blackjack, slots, and roulette, to new players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A big development came in 1998, when Microgaming introduced Cash Splash, the first online progressive jackpot slot game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It linked the game\u2019s jackpot across all online casinos which offered the game, which means the jackpot could rapidly increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In May 2009, Microgaming&#8217;s progressive slot Mega Moolah paid out $6,374,434\u2014the largest online casino payout at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Martin-Moshal-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Martin-Moshal-2-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-787462\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Martin-Moshal-2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Martin-Moshal-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Martin-Moshal-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Martin-Moshal-2.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Microgaming founder Martin Moshal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Microgaming continued its innovation in online gambling and became the market leader. While others faded, it remained a top player in the industry for three decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In November 2021, Microgaming released more than a dozen new games, including exclusive titles and some developed with its development partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It remains a privately held company based in the Isle of Man. It boasts 200 staff with a portfolio of more than 850 games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Raatgever, who served as chief executive since 2001, stepped down in 2018. New CEO Stephen Fisk expressed excitement over the company\u2019s new plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of their biggest bets is sports betting, which will play a growing role in Microgaming\u2019s growth strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Microgaming powers Betway, a British gambling company founded in 2006 that offers sports betting, online casinos, online poker, and online bingo. Moshal is one of Betway\u2019s backers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In July, Betway signed a 3-year sponsorship deal worth R900 million with South Africa\u2019s Premier Soccer League as its title sponsor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Martin-Moshal.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Martin-Moshal-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-787454\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Martin-Moshal-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Martin-Moshal-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Martin-Moshal-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Martin-Moshal.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Martin Moshal speaking at the Moshal Scholarship Program<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides Microgaming, Moshal has been behind many other successful businesses as a founder and investor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He is the co-founder of Entree Capital, which invests in various technology and business innovation companies worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He also maintains additional investments in leading companies, including real estate, technology, and start-ups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He launched the Moshal Foundation and the Moshal Scholarship Program, which funds students\u2019 university fees and assists them in getting employment after graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He is also South Africa\u2019s largest individual political donor, which he believes will help the country fulfil its potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He told the South African Jewish Report that the social returns of good governance and a growing economy are enormous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs individuals, there\u2019s only so much we can achieve. A government can have an impact on the entire country, for better or worse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s why investment in competent parties with integrity can have such an impact on the country as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He supported the Democratic Alliance, ActionSA, Mmusi Maimane\u2019s Build One South Africa, and the Inkatha Freedom Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf they come together or work in some way as a team, they could provide solid leadership and government of the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He is particularly proud of the work done through the Moshal Program, which was started in 2009 to help individuals transform their lives through higher education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is a social transformation organisation that provides opportunities to promising individuals and supports them as they overcome their challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Moshal Program partnered with top South African universities in science, technology, Mathematics, engineering, and commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Moshal Program has 1,400 alumni from Israel and South Africa, with 300 new graduates joining the community each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;You don\u2019t need to pay us back, but you do need to pay it forward,\u201d Moshal told the program\u2019s graduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moshal has received an honorary PhD from Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology, and is also an honorary fellow of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/786987\/the-story-of-a-south-african-retail-giant-raymond-ackerman\/\">The man who was fired from Checkers\u2014and then built its biggest competitor<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Martin Moshal is a pioneer in the online gaming industry and the biggest individual political party donor in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":787474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[19493,2061,20395,20396,20397],"class_list":["post-787451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-actionsa","tag-democratic-alliance","tag-martin-moshal","tag-microgaming","tag-roger-raatgever"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=787451"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":787487,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787451\/revisions\/787487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/787474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=787451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=787451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=787451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}