Business15.07.2021

South Africa’s top ICT CEOs revealed

The top South African ICT leaders in terms of share price growth are MTN CEO Ralph Mupita, Adapt IT CEO Sbu Shabalala, Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko, and Huge Group CEO James Herbst.

To assess the performance of tech CEOs, MyBroadband calculated the average annual share price growth during their tenure.

This calculation revealed that 50% of the CEOs achieved positive share price growth since they took the reins. On average, the annual share price growth under these CEOs was 11%.

MTN CEO Ralph Mupita achieved the highest performance with an annual share price growth of 81%.

It should be noted that Mupita has been CEO for only ten months. He also took over when MTN’s share price was starting to recover from the lockdown decline, which may skew the results.

Sbu Shabalala ranked second with an average annual share price growth of 65% over the last 13 years.

When Adapt IT listed on the JSE in 2008, the company traded at 68c per share. After numerous ups and downs over the last decade, Adapt IT is now trading at R6.60 per share.

In recent months, the Adapt IT share price was bolstered by a bidding war between Huge Group and Volaris to acquire the IT provider.

Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko ranked third with an annual share price growth of 24%.

When Maseko took over as Telkom CEO in April 2013, the company was trading at R15.00 per share. Nine years later, the share price has increased to over R44 per share.

Telkom’s strategy has changed significantly over the last decade, evolving from a fixed-line telecommunications provider to a converged player with a strong mobile focus.

This strategy is starting to pay dividends, and investors are rewarding Telkom with a rising share price.

The only other CEO who achieved share price growth of over 20% per year was Huge Group’s James Herbst.

Over the last twelve years, Huge Group’s stock price increased from R1.55 per share to R5.50 per share, equating to average annual growth of 21%.