South African Fund Manager Gives Company Profits to Charity

In a Mark Zuckerberg-like gesture of incredible kindness and philanthropy, the head of a Johannesburg-based fund manager controlling $35 billion has given his family’s controlling stake in the company to a charitable foundation, according to news reports and a statement by the company.

Control of Allan Gray and its Bermunda-based partner Orbis Investment Management has been transferred to the Allan & Gill Gray Foundation and dividends will be used for philanthropic purposes, Gray said in a newsletter to clients dated 31 December, it was reported on Friday.

The company was started in Cape Town in 1973 by Allan Gray, who is now 77 and lives in Bermuda.

On its website, the company Allan Gray describes itself as “a privately owned investment manager in Africa. We manage US $35 billion in client assets in a range of equity, fixed interest and multi-asset mandates across Africa”.

The Allan Gray Orbis Foundation is already heavily involved in providing scholarships and fellowships to Southern African youth.

In an interview on Thursday, Allan Gray Chairman Ian Liddle said the foundation was charged with being a responsible shareholder for the business. “If the business does well the dividend will flow to the foundation, which will flow to charitable works.”

He could not say how much money would be generated for the fund but said, “Hopefully it will be measured in hundreds of millions of rands”.

Liddle said in the interview that the Gray family still has a controlling stake of over 50 percent in the company and that all its shares would go into the trust. The agreement was signed by Allan Gray, his wife Jill and their three children.

“It’s important that the family was brought into this,” Liddle said.