Tencent dilemma looming
Naspers is now the 65th largest company on the globe
When you buy a supposedly low-risk ETF of the JSE’s top-40 index, you’re betting on China’s continued benevolence
Bob van Dijk, the Dutch-born CEO of media-turned-tech giant Naspers, must be irked that his stellar half-year results have been overshadowed by a corruption scandal involving pay-TV arm MultiChoice. In any other week, Naspers’s 33% growth in revenue for the six months to September (to US$9bn) and 40% growth in trading profit (to $2.06bn), would dominate the headlines. This week, however, all the talk was about whether MultiChoice had shunted R100m to the SABC and R25m to ANN7 (the TV network previously owned by President Jacob Zuma’s friends, the Guptas) as an "incentive" for government to bend its broadcasting policy to suit the pay-TV operator.It illustrates yet again why Tencent, "discovered" by Naspers chairman Koos Bekker in May 2001, has been described as the best investment ever, by anyone, in investment history. Bloomberg figures show that Naspers’s initial R266m investment for 49% of Tencent is now worth R2.13trillion — a return of more than 800,000%. It’s a story that has ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.