A popular quote by Winston Churchill says, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” This is true when you look at the life of Jannie Mouton. A determined man who moved from being fired to building one of Africa’s top business empire.
See Also: Nicky Oppenheimer – Biography Of The Third Richest Man In Africa
In this aricle, I’ll be delving into the biography of a self made South African billionaire – Jannie Mouton. Johannes Mouton also known as “Buddha Buffet” is the founder of the renowned PSG Group and the co-founder of Capitec Bank.
Background Of Jannie Mouton
Jannie was born in 1946 at Carnarvon, South Africa. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Stellenbosch University. In 1973, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.
He was married to Dana Mouton who died in 2004. Currently, Jannie is married to Deidre Mouton and they have two sons and a daughter together.
See Also: Manal Rostom – Biography of the first Nike Hijabi Running Ambassador
Jannie lives in Stellenbosch, South Africa. One of his sons, Piet is the CEO of PSG Group. The eldest son, Jan manages the PSG Flexible Fund and is also a non-executive director in PSG.
PSG has interests in financial services, banking, private equity, agriculture and education.
See Also: 100 Profitable Business Ideas For Aspiring Entrepreneurs And Investors
Business Career Of Jannie Mouton
Jannie began his career at a young age of 22. Before starting his own business, he worked as an articled clerk at PwC. Thereafter, he co-founded a Stockbroking firm with his friends, Senekal and Kitshoff. Unfortunately, on 3rd August 1995, Jannie walked into the company as a managing partner but walked out of the company without a job. He got fired.
PSG Group
In November 1995, Mouton bought 51% of PAG (a listed recruitment firm) for R3.5million. Then, in 1997, PAG Ltd changed its name to PSG Group and the company sold PAG placement for R107m so as to focus on financial services. In 1998, R1.2billion was raised for PSG Noble Capital Ltd and the firm got listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
Afterwards, PSG Noble and PSG Investment Bank merged in 1999. Meanwhile, PSG Investment Bank is listed on the JSE as the seventh biggest bank in South Africa. In 2001, Capitec (a low cost bank) listed on JSE with PSG as a shareholder of reference. Thereafter, in 2003, PSG became the largest shareholder of Capitec with 30.7% stake.
In addition, PSG owns 20% of Arch Equity founded as BEE Investment Company. Following that, PSG aquires 15% interest in the JSE Ltd in 2005 and became the largest shareholder.
See Also: Graça Machel – Biography Of An International Advocate Of Women’s And Child’s Right.
More Investment of PSG
In 2007, PSG joins Sanlam and Santam in establishing the new direct insurance, MiWay Insurance. Then in 2011, PSG listed its private education group, PSG Investments as Curro Holdings on JSE.
In summary, PSG’s investments include; Strategy and Philosophy, Capitec, PSG Konsult, Curro, Dipeo, Zeder Investments, PSG Capital, PSG Corporate and PSG Alpha.
See Also: Phuti Mahanyele – Biography Of An Influential South African Business Leader
Jannie Mouton Health
In 2018, Jannie Mouton issued a public statement stating he was diagnosed with an early form of dementia. He further mentioned that if his doctor recommends that he resigns, he would. Thereafter, he continued as the Chairman of PSG Group. However, after six months of the disclosure, he stepped down from the R54billion business he created.
And Then They Fired Me
This is a book by Jannie Mouton. This book talks about how Jannie started PSG Group after getting fired at age 48.
See Also: Aya Chebbi – Biography Of An Award-Winning Pan African Feminist And Activist
Awards And Recognitions
- Jannie is one of Forbes Africa’s 50 Richest, 2015
- Named among Forbes List of Billionaires, 2017
Jannie Mouton Quotes
“If you are unemployed, get yourself an office. Why? So that you can get up in the morning and have a purpose to shower.”
“Choose competent people, place them in key positions, and trust their judgement implicitly.”
“You can’t do everything yourself, you have to employ competent people. It is a trick to recognise good people.”
“You have to interact with people. You can’t sit behind a computer and think you can learn something about life. Interact with people, so that you can get a feeling for the right people.”
“Success requires innovation, hard work, dedication and a bit of luck.”
“Approach every challenge as an opportunity because a negative person has never really created anything.”
See Also: Clare Akamanzi – Biography And Life Of A Successful Leader
Entrepreneurial Lessons From Jannie Mouton
Failure Is Not Final
Jannie Mouton was fired from his job but that didn’t stop him from moving again. In his words, “It was a tremendous shock for me. I was 48 years old and I didn’t expect anything like that. I lost my company, I lost my friends. And, I lost my confidence. It was a defining moment of my life.”
Despite all of this, he picked himself up and started all over. In Jannie’s word, “I realised the failure is in my hands, and only in my hands. And I had to lift my head, and go on with life.”
Likewise, every business has its ups and downs and you are not promised that your entrepreneurial journey will be all rosy. Hence, see all failure encountered as a way to make your business better.
See Also: Judy Dlamini – Biography Of A Phenomenal Business Woman, Founder, Mbekani Group
Have A Mentor
After getting fired, Jannie started reading books written by his mentor, Warren Buffet, an investment guru and US billionaire. He didn’t stop there, he also studied his style of running businesses.
Thereafter, in November 1995, Jannie bought 51% of a listed recruitment company, PAG for R3.5million.
Truly, there’s nothing entirely new under the sun. Every height you hope to attain has been attained by someone. It may not be exactly what you hope to achieve but something close to it.
Studying the life of someone who is already where you dream to be is one of the fastest ways to achieve your goals. You will be able to learn from the person’s mistakes and not repeat them.
See Also: Elsie Kanza – Biography Of A Powerful African Female Leader
Communication
Jannie Mouton has a culture of communicating effectively. He shows a high level of honesty both with employees and clients. This kind of transparency
and good communication skills helps investors and prospective clients to trust your brand. This will also spur them to invest in your business and
do more business with you.
See Also: Jennifer Riria – Biography Of The CEO Of Kenya Women Holding Group
Measure Your Performance
Over the years, PSG Group is known for efficiently measuring their performance. As a result, the company has generated an annual compound
growth in earnings of 50.2% a year. Measuring your performance helps facilitate sound managerial decisions.
To keep track of our activities, follow us on Instagram
