The oldest CEOs on the JSE

The announcement by Warren Buffett that he would retire as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year caught many by surprise, even though he is 94 years old. By the time he leaves, he will be 95.

Most expected that he would simply continue in the position like his partner Charlie Munger, who served as Berkshire’s vice chair until his death in 2023 (aged 99).

Read:
From boring to billionaire … [Munger and Buffett]
Warren Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

While there aren’t any nonagenarian CEOs of JSE-listed companies, there are seven over the age of 70.

Among JSE-listed companies, the majority of CEOs are in their 50s, with many corporates – especially larger ones – implementing and enforcing mandatory retirement at certain ages (generally 60).

Sean Summers

Perhaps the highest profile of these is Sean Summers who returned at Pick n Pay CEO in September 2023 at the age of 70. He is now 71.

Summers had worked for the group for 33 years and was appointed MD in 1996 and CEO in 1999 (taking over from founder Raymond Ackerman). Summers’s contract is for 32 months, and he has been granted four million shares in the retailer’s restricted share plan.

At the current share price (R27), this is worth R110 million. These shares vest in three tranches: two million will vest on 31 October 2025 based on the “implementation of effective leadership and operation structures”, a further one million will vest on 28 February 2027 with specific performance criteria linked to CEO succession and the last one million shares will also vest on that date but are linked to financial performance targets.

Jebb McIntosh

Jebb McIntosh, CEO of Combined Motor Holdings (CMH), is 79.

He has been on its board since co-founding the business with Maldwyn Zimmerman in 1976. Zimmerman was chair and CEO from its inception. McIntosh was appointed CEO in 1999. When it listed on the JSE in 1987, it had 14 dealerships.

CMH is somewhat unique in that all three of its executive directors are over 65.

Financial director Stuart Jackson is 72, while Bruce Barritt the MD of its First Car Rental Division is 66.

Terry Moolman

Terry Moolman, founder and CEO of Caxton & CTP Publishers and Printers, is 80.

The FD of the group, Tim Holden, who is also MD and manages the business day to day, is 60.

Moolman and his partners acquired control of Caxton in 1977, with a market capitalisation of R260 000. He has been CEO ever since.

Christopher Seabrooke

The CEO of investment group Sabvest Capital, Christopher Seabrooke, is 72.

He joined the group in 1980 and has been CEO since 1987. The Seabrooke Family Trust owns 41.7% of the group, and investors have sometimes described investing in Sabvest as effectively being able to invest alongside Seabrooke’s ‘family office’.

Eric Ellerine was notably the first new material shareholder in Sabvest when it listed on the JSE in 1988. At the time of his passing in 2023, Ellerine’s family entities were together one of Sabcap’s three largest shareholders.

Ricardo Sieni

Ricardo Sieni, the CEO of Trencor Limited, is 70.

He took over from Jimmy McQueen, who had been FD, who took over from executive directors Neil and Cecil Jowell, who had served the group for nearly six decades.

At the end of 2016, the year the Jowell’s stepped down, they were 83 and 81 respectively.

Trencor’s main asset was a stake in Textainer, one of the world’s biggest shipping container leasing groups. It unbundled these shares in two phases (2019 and 2020) and is now a cash company listed on the JSE, which “is in the process of distributing its available cash resources to shareholders”.

Johnny Copelyn

Johnny Copelyn, CEO of investment holding group Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI), is 74.

He was appointed CEO in January 1997. The Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) remains the largest shareholder in the group (with 23%).

HCI owns stakes in Tsogo Sun, Southern Sun, eMedia, Frontier Transport, Deneb Investments, with various mining and oil/gas interests.

Michael Mark

Michael Mark, the CEO of Truworths International, turned 72 in November. Mark joined the group in 1988 and was appointed to the board in 1991.

He has been CEO for over 30 years.

He originally planned to retire in 2014, when the retailer announced that Jean-Christophe Garbino would take over as CEO. That appointment didn’t work out, and Mark stayed on.

In 2020, he indicated his desire to retire to the board in November 2022. While it identified two possible successors (Sarah Proudfoot and Mannie Cristaudo, who were appointed joint deputy CEOs in September 2022), the board convinced Mark to remain as Group CEO. It noted the “ultimate timing of the formal appointment of the CEO to succeed Michael Mark is yet to be decided by the board”.

Johann Rupert

Johann Rupert, one of the most well-known South African executives ever, is not CEO of any of his family’s companies – Richemont, Remgro and Reinet – although he is executive chair of the latter. Rupert turns 75 in June.

Ivan Saltzman

Dis-Chem co-founder Ivan Saltzman retired in July 2023 at the age of 73. The group’s chief financial officer, Rui Morais, took over (he was then 38 years old – nearly half Saltzman’s age). Saltzman remains an executive director on the board.

Age is but a number …

It must be remembered that the boards of directors of these various companies clearly feel that these CEOs are still adding value to these businesses.

Also, given the advances in healthcare, 70 in 2025 is not nearly the same as being 70 in 1980.

Read: More proof that the richer you are, the healthier you’ll be

The two oldest CEOs have seen the businesses they run deliver share price increases of 174% and 230%, respectively, over five years (from the Covid-19 pandemic lows), versus 85% for the Top 40.

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