{"id":837788,"date":"2025-10-07T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=837788"},"modified":"2025-10-07T17:09:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T15:09:46","slug":"the-man-who-changed-his-degree-after-his-first-year-and-is-now-one-of-south-africas-top-paid-ceos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/banking\/837788\/the-man-who-changed-his-degree-after-his-first-year-and-is-now-one-of-south-africas-top-paid-ceos\/","title":{"rendered":"The man who changed his degree after his first year and is now one of South Africa’s top-paid CEOs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Harry Kellan switched degrees after one year of medical school and is now the CEO of FNB Bank, one of the top-paid banking bosses in South Africa, earning R42 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kellan was born in 1972 in Lenasia, a suburb south of Soweto in the Gauteng province, Johannesburg.  His father was a barber in Johannesburg, and his mother was a teacher who focused strongly on education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have my mother to thank for placing a premium on education. She was a teacher, and we grew up with a strong focus on education,\u201d he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that, like many Indian families at the time, his parents hoped he would pursue medicine. \u201cIndian families in those days thought highly of the medical profession,\u201d Kellan explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI initially selected medicine and pharmacy as my first two university discipline choices. However, that plan quickly fell apart.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He struggled with biology, chemistry, and physics, managing only to do well in mathematics, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After his first year, he realised the medical path wasn\u2019t for him. \u201cI had the choice to keep on the path of least resistance and continue to try to become a doctor, or change to a different degree.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI chose the latter, and it was not easy. It meant accepting failure, disappointing my parents and facing the financial cost of a wasted academic year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His father was disappointed with the choice and made it clear he would no longer fully support him financially. Becoming a Chartered Accountant wasn\u2019t seen as prestigious in his community.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo many European families, becoming a Chartered Accountant is as big an achievement as becoming a doctor. In an Indian family back then, and likely still a little today, it is a very big step down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After qualifying, Kellan joined FNB in 2005. Early on, he had to work with people who were older and more experienced than him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had to rewire my brain to the idea that age does not matter and everyone has the right to say something. I also took the time to convince my colleagues that they were working with and not for me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big break for Kellan <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Former FirstRand CEO Alan Pullinger (left), Group CEO Mary Vilakazi (middle) and FNB CEO Harry Kellan (right).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Two years later, then-CEO Michael Jordaan offered him the role of CFO at FNB. At just 35, he was nervous about taking on such a big responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time, he developed his own ideas about leadership and strategy. For him, strategy is about clarity of purpose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost people will express their need to achieve growth in earnings or a certain return profile. Those are outcomes, but ultimately your strategy must align with your purpose as a business,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kellan also saw banking as more than just finance. It is central to how the economy functions, which drew him in<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCash flow is the bloodline of any business, but it\u2019s the bloodline of the entire economy. Without the flow of funds into the economy, where banks play a critical role, you can actually stall an economy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also credits the sector\u2019s resilience to regulation. \u201cWe take care of other people\u2019s money. That\u2019s fundamental to what banking is about. And that\u2019s why you\u2019ve got to have regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Innovation in payments and digital services is one of the areas that excites him. \u201cPayments have to be instantaneous, but safety always comes first,\u201d he said, adding that fraud remains a constant threat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFraud is a business. People invest significant money into that business of fraud. So, we invest significantly to make sure they are not successful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the rise of digital banking, he doesn\u2019t believe branches will vanish completely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI learned a new word\u2014it\u2019s called \u2018phygital\u2019. It\u2019s digital most of the time, but when things go wrong or something is complex, you want the physical too.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The branch will evolve, not disappear, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He takes a similar view on artificial intelligence. \u201cAI won\u2019t take away jobs. People who use AI will replace people who don\u2019t. It saves me hours of work and allows me to focus on more exciting things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kellan served as FirstRand’s CFO for a decade before becoming FNB CEO<\/a> on 1 April 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the promotion, his pay rose from R25.9 million to R42.3 million, making him one of South Africa\u2019s best-paid banking bosses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He believes leadership is less about control and more about empowering others. \u201cSurround yourself with good people, empower them, and don\u2019t be in their way,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of work, family keeps him grounded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy kids keep me grounded. Maybe I\u2019m the CEO at the bank, but at home, I\u2019m last in line. The title doesn\u2019t define who you are as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harry Kellan switched degrees after one year at university and is now one of the top-paid banking bosses in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":837802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[961],"tags":[2215,76,23629,853],"class_list":["post-837788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking","tag-firstrand-group","tag-fnb","tag-harry-kellan","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837788","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\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837788"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":839338,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837788\/revisions\/839338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}