KOOS BEKKER

Jacobus Petrus Bekker, also known as Koos Bekker, is a South African billionaire who was born in the town of Potchefstroom in 1952. Koos Bekker is the chairman of Naspers, a media conglomerate with operations in 130 countries and stock exchange listings in London and Johannesburg. Outside of China and the United States, Naspers has the highest market capitalization of any media firm. After graduating in 1984, he and a few others launched one of the first two pay-television systems outside of the United States. M-Net and its subsidiaries, such as Multichoice, eventually expanded to 48 African nations.

In 1990, Koos Bekker was a founding director of MTN, a mobile communication firm. In 1997, he was named CEO of Naspers, which was the first investor in M-Net/Multichoice and eventually purchased all other stockholders. He also served on the Local Organising Committee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Bekker oversaw large investments in emerging market Internet businesses that have paid off in recent years, including shares in China's Tencent Holdings, Brazilian magazine publisher Abril, and Russian Internet powerhouse Mail.ru.

Net worth: $2.7 billion

Industry: Media and entertainment

Country: South Africa