{"id":634623,"date":"2026-03-22T16:07:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T14:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=634623"},"modified":"2026-03-22T16:18:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T14:18:38","slug":"billionaire-koos-bekker-lives-to-see-his-brainchild-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/broadcasting\/634623-billionaire-koos-bekker-lives-to-see-his-brainchild-collapse.html","title":{"rendered":"Billionaire Koos Bekker lives to see his brainchild collapse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Koos Bekker, the man who transformed a South African newspaper business into a global tech powerhouse, is witnessing the slow-motion collapse of the very company that started it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DStv, the pay-TV giant that Bekker built from an MBA thesis into a continental near-monopoly, is now in the hands of a foreign owner, Groupe Canal+, and fighting for its life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The story of MultiChoice is inextricably linked to Bekker\u2019s own rise from a farm boy to one of the world\u2019s most successful venture capitalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Born on 14 December 1952 in Potchefstroom, North West, he grew up on a mielie (maize) farm outside of town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While many would find it hard to draw comparisons between the life of a farmer and a corporate businessman, Bekker does not believe they are so different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bekker also says that being raised as a farm boy gave him an early understanding of the importance of discipline, perseverance, and a work ethic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After completing school, he obtained a law degree from Stellenbosch University and a degree in literature from the University of the Witwatersrand before starting a career in advertising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the early 1980s, he and his wife sold their house and moved to New York, where Bekker pursued an MBA at Columbia Business School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There, he encountered the world\u2019s first premium cable TV service, Home Box Office (HBO). The platform\u2019s success inspired him to do his MBA thesis on the idea of M-Net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the help of friends, Cobus Stofberg and Jac van der Merwe, Bekker pitched M-Net to Naspers chairman Ton Vosloo, who agreed to launch the first pay-TV channel in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In October 1986, M-Net was launched from a humble caravan in Randburg, broadcasting for just a few hours each night over an encrypted analogue signal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite its modest beginnings, M-Net was an immediate sensation, providing South Africans with a high-quality alternative to the state-run SABC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The service became profitable within just two years, providing the cash flow that would eventually allow Bekker to build the MultiChoice empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1995, Bekker oversaw the launch of DStv, making South Africa the second country in the world, and the first outside the United States, to have a digital satellite service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its early-mover advantage secured MultiChoice near-total dominance over the Anglophone video entertainment landscape in Africa for the next two decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Architect of a trillion-rand giant<\/h2>\n\n\n\nKoos Bekker (left), South African filmmaker Jamie Uys (centre), and Naspers CEO Ton Vosloo (right) at the announcement of M-Net in 1985.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Bekker\u2019s success with MultiChoice catapulted him into the role of Naspers CEO in 1997. In 1999, he stopped taking a salary, bonuses, or any other perks, opting instead to be compensated in stock options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This move aligned his interests with the business, and it paid off spectacularly after he oversaw the roughly $33 million investment in a then-unknown Chinese company, Tencent, in 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That decision is widely regarded as one of the greatest venture capital investments in history, growing into a stake worth over $100 billion and transforming Naspers into a global tech titan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, as Naspers soared on the back of Tencent, the business that started Bekker\u2019s rapid rise began to falter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The very digital revolution that Bekker championed eventually turned against the satellite television company that made his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The arrival of Netflix in 2016 marked the beginning of the end for DStv\u2019s undisputed dominance in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As high-speed fibre internet became widely available, the value proposition of a R900-per-month satellite subscription began to crumble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MultiChoice attempted to pivot by launching its own streaming service, Showmax, in 2015, but it did not help to counter the bleeding of its high-value DStv Premium subscribers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Naspers spun MultiChoice out as a separate listed entity on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in February 2019, ending Bekker\u2019s involvement at the pay-TV giant he had built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the company was still growing, thanks to the lack of broadband penetration in Africa, it was already clear that it would no longer be the money printer it once was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DStv\u2019s death spiral<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
A few years later, it was clear that MultiChoice\u2019s whole foundation had started to crumble. Group subscriber numbers peaked at 17.3 million in 2023 but fell to 14.4 million by December 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rest of Africa business, once the main driver of growth, turned negative as local currencies devalued and consumers came under economic pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MultiChoice also blamed its decline in South Africa on persistent load-shedding and a cost-of-living crisis that forced households to cut discretionary spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, even when load-shedding ended, its DStv customers did not return. The true source of the decline was becoming harder to talk away: DStv had become too expensive for the value it offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final chapter of Bekker\u2019s brainchild appears to be a buyout by the French media conglomerate Groupe Canal+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After executing a creeping takeover, Canal+ was forced to make a mandatory offer on MultiChoice, which valued the company at R55 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Koos-Bekker-Ton-Vosloo-at-launch-of-M-Net.jpg\")
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