{"id":865296,"date":"2026-07-02T13:42:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T11:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=865296"},"modified":"2026-07-02T13:42:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T11:42:26","slug":"another-south-african-becomes-a-dollar-billionaire-and-adrian-gore-is-not-far-behind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/865296\/another-south-african-becomes-a-dollar-billionaire-and-adrian-gore-is-not-far-behind\/","title":{"rendered":"Another South African becomes a dollar-billionaire \u2013 and Adrian Gore is not far behind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dis-Chem founder Ivan Saltzman and his family are now worth $1.3 billion after being ranked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The milestone places Saltzman alongside some of South Africa’s wealthiest businesspeople. This includes Johann Rupert, Nicky Oppenheimer, Koos Bekker, Patrice Motsepe, Michiel Le Roux and Christo Wiese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forbes’ separate billionaire ranking also includes the Mouton family, which founded PSG and was an early investor in Capitec, and Paul van Zuydam, the owner and president of Le Creuset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saltzman’s entry onto the list comes at the end of a remarkable career that began nearly five decades ago<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of June 2026, the 76-year-old retired as Dis-Chem’s chairman, marking the end of an era for the pharmaceutical giant.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He and his wife, Lynette, both qualified pharmacists, launched the business in 1978 after investing R10,000 to purchase a small pharmacy in Mondeor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saltzman had worked there as a locum pharmacist and believed it could be run more effectively. That decision would lead to the creation of one of South Africa’s largest pharmacy retail groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the following decades, Dis-Chem expanded steadily. The company introduced its private-label product range in 1997 and established the Dis-Chem Foundation in 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time it listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 2016, the retailer had grown to 100 stores and was generating annual revenue of R15.5 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time of the listing, Saltzman described the move as “an important next phase” in the company’s development, while remaining committed to leading the business alongside his wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dis-Chem has continued to expand since then. By 2026, it operated 330 stores, comprising 285 pharmacies and 45 baby outlets, while its market capitalisation had grown to R28.48 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Saltzman has stepped down as chairman, the founding family remains deeply invested in the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before his retirement, he and Lynette transferred 217 million Dis-Chem shares to two of their sons, ensuring the family continues to own more than a quarter of the JSE-listed retailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another South African is closing in on the billionaire’s list<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While Saltzman has now secured his place among South Africa’s dollar-billionaires, another prominent business leader appears to be closing in on the same milestone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery co-founder and chief executive Adrian Gore has seen his personal fortune rise sharply this year as investors have rewarded the financial services group’s strong performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In less than six months, Gore’s wealth has increased by approximately R2.44 billion, or about $125.6 million, as Discovery’s share price rallied on the JSE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His 6.69% shareholding in the company is now valued at close to $1 billion, putting him within reach of joining the exclusive billionaire club if Discovery’s strong momentum continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company’s recent financial performance has helped fuel the rally. Discovery’s earnings have climbed from roughly R7.5 billion to R9.8 billion, reinforcing investor confidence in the group’s long-term growth prospects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surge in the share price has also lifted Discovery’s market value to more than $11 billion, or around R183 billion, strengthening its position as one of the largest listed companies on the JSE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Market analysts have noted that if Discovery’s shares continue to rise and hit projected price targets, Gore’s net worth could soon exceed $1 billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dis-Chem founder and his family are now worth $1.3 billion after being ranked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index for the first time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":865298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[7267,11649,4883,853],"class_list":["post-865296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-bloomberg-billionaires-index","tag-dis-chem","tag-discovery","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865296","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=865296"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":865304,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865296\/revisions\/865304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}