Koos Bekker honoured by Ernst & Young

7 Jun 2007

MONTE CARLO: Earlier this week, Koos Bekker of Naspers was inducted into the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Hall of Fame as the winner of the South African chapter of the World Entrepreneur Awards Programme at an awards ceremony in Monte Carlo.

Membership in this academy is exclusive to World Entrepreneur finalists and recipients of the award, which was established to commemorate the accomplishments of the world's great entrepreneurs and to build awareness around the global economic impact of their contributions. The annual competition, sponsored by Ernst & Young in partnership with Rand Merchant Bank, draws over 9000 nominees from participating countries, and as such, to reach the global final is seen as a considerable accomplishment in its own right.

In exclusive company

As a member of the Hall of Fame, Bekker finds himself in exclusive company, with previous national and global winners including: Massmart chief executive Mark Lamberti, ARMgold chairman Patrice Motsepe, Master Currency chief executive Zitulele “KK” Combi, Michael Dell of Dell Computers and Jeff Bezos of amazon.com.

Paying tribute to his 38 fellow finalists from around the world, Bekker said: “I feel honoured to be rated in the same field as these very creative and courageous entrepreneurs. Each one of them has made a significant contribution in their own countries and deserves recognition for their achievements.”

Bekker added that Ernst & Young acknowledges the positive impact of entrepreneurship on world business through a consistent focus on promotion, development and encouragement. It is for this reason that the awards programme applies the same principles and guidelines in judging entrepreneurs globally, regardless of their industry or background.

Well-deserved

Philip Hourquebie, CEO of Ernst & Young South Africa, says that Bekkers' success is well-deserved, as his transformation of Naspers from a traditional print media business into a global media and technology giant that currently operates on six continents is remarkable.

In addition, Hourquebie continued, credit must be given to those individuals, of which Bekker is a prime example, who willingly embrace risk and successfully build exceptional enterprises, which positively impact on our economy.