The Most Famous
BUSINESSPEOPLE from South Africa
This page contains a list of the greatest South African Businesspeople. The pantheon dataset contains 847 Businesspeople, 1 of which were born in South Africa. This makes South Africa the birth place of the 58th most number of Businesspeople behind Qatar, and Nigeria.
Top 3
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary South African Businesspeople of all time. This list of famous South African Businesspeople is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Mark Shuttleworth (b. 1973)
With an HPI of 46.56, Mark Shuttleworth is the most famous South African Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 60 different languages on wikipedia.
Mark Richard Shuttleworth (born 18 September 1973) is a South African and British entrepreneur who is the founder and CEO of Canonical, the company behind the development of the Linux-based Ubuntu operating system. In 2002, Shuttleworth became the first African to travel to space, doing so as a space tourist. He lives on the Isle of Man and holds dual citizenship from South Africa and the United Kingdom. According to the Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, Shuttleworth is worth an estimated £500 million.
2. Kimbal Musk (b. 1972)
With an HPI of 41.86, Kimbal Musk is the 2nd most famous South African Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Kimbal James Musk (born 20 September 1972) is a Canadian-American businessman and restaurateur. He owns The Kitchen Restaurant Group, a collection of restaurants in Colorado and Chicago. He is the co-founder and chairman of Big Green, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has built hundreds of outdoor classrooms called Learning Gardens in schoolyards across the United States. Musk is also the co-founder and chairman of Square Roots, an urban farming company growing food in hydroponic, indoor, climate controlled shipping containers. Musk currently sits on the boards of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX; his brother Elon is the current CEO of both companies. He was on the board of Chipotle Mexican Grill from 2013 to 2019. He is the brother of Elon Musk, Tosca Musk, son of Errol and Maye Musk, and a major shareholder in Tesla. In 1995 he co-founded, with his brother, Elon Musk, the software company Zip2, which was acquired by Compaq for $307 million in 1999.
3. Ryk Neethling (b. 1977)
With an HPI of 22.31, Ryk Neethling is the 3rd most famous South African Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Ryk Neethling OIS (born 17 November 1977) is a South African businessman who rose to prominence as the three-times World Champion and four-times World Record Breaking Olympic swimming champion. He is known as one of the most accomplished swimmers in history. He is CEO of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation South Africa, a Laureus Sport for Good Foundation Ambassador, founder of the Ryk Neethling Swimming Schools and a director and shareholder of Val de Vie Estate. He is also an international keynote and motivational speaker. He won an Olympic gold medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics and won three individual gold medals at the 2006 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai. Winning nine National Collegiate Athletic Association championships makes him the third best men's swimmer in almost 100 years. He is the former joint owner of the 4×100 m freestyle relay world record and broke the 100m Individual Medley World Record three times in 2005. He is also the first South African to compete in four successive Olympic Games. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Business from the University of Arizona, which also named him the American NCAA Swimmer of the Year and Athlete of the Century in 1999.
People
Pantheon has 3 people classified as South African businesspeople born between 1972 and 1977. Of these 3, 3 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living South African businesspeople include Mark Shuttleworth, Kimbal Musk, and Ryk Neethling. As of April 2024, 2 new South African businesspeople have been added to Pantheon including Kimbal Musk, and Ryk Neethling.
Living South African Businesspeople
Go to all Rankings
Mark Shuttleworth
1973 - Present
HPI: 46.56
Kimbal Musk
1972 - Present
HPI: 41.86
Ryk Neethling
1977 - Present
HPI: 22.31
