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Naspers

South African group incorporated in 1915, transformed through internet investment and retaining voting control of separately listed Prosus.

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Naspers is a South African company established in 1915. Koos Bekker was not its founder: he became chief executive in 1997 and led the group’s transition towards internet businesses after previously helping to build M-Net and MultiChoice. [1][2]

History

Naspers describes itself as established in 1915. Over its history it developed from a South African publishing business into a group with major media, pay-television and internet interests. [1]

Bekker led the founding team of M-Net/MultiChoice in 1985, joined Naspers as chief executive in 1997 and headed its transition to the internet until 2014. His role is therefore better described as company builder and transformer than founder of Naspers. [2]

Naspers’s 2004 regulatory filing gives 12 May 1915 as its Cape Town incorporation date. It records a Tencent investment in May 2001 through a group subsidiary. The purchase consideration was R266 million in cash, including directly attributable acquisition costs. [3]

Prosus’s primary Amsterdam listing began on 11 September 2019. This created a separate listed international internet group, rather than ending Naspers’s relationship with those assets. A cross-holding introduced in 2021 was removed in September 2023. [5][4]

Voting control is not complete ownership

At 31 March 2026, Naspers held a 43.42% economic interest and 75.66% voting rights in Prosus. The Prosus annual report attributes significant management and shareholder-decision control to Naspers. These are dated rights, not a statement that Naspers owns every Prosus share. [4]

Tencent is a separate investee classified as an associate by Prosus. Naspers’s voting control of Prosus should not be restated as equivalent control of Tencent’s operations. Each company boundary matters. [4]

Takealot’s separate South African ownership chain

Naspers’s FY2026 group chart shows a wholly owned chain through its e-commerce holding company to Takealot. The chart presents this separately from the Naspers interest in Prosus. The two listed companies should not be treated as interchangeable direct parents of every portfolio business. [8]

The Takealot history also records earlier ownership stages. Naspers’s FY2018 report gives a 96% effective interest and a 91% fully diluted interest after the December 2017 purchase. Those historical percentages should retain their date and measurement basis. [7]

Frequently asked questions

Did Koos Bekker found Naspers?

No. Naspers was incorporated in 1915. Bekker became chief executive in 1997 and chair in April 2015. [3][6]

Does Naspers own all of Prosus or Tencent?

No. The 2026 Prosus annual report distinguishes Naspers’s controlling voting position from its economic interest. Tencent is an associate investment. [4]

Key milestones

  1. Naspers was established in South Africa. [1]

  2. Koos Bekker led the founding team of the M-Net/MultiChoice pay-television business. [2]

  3. Bekker became chief executive of Naspers. [2]

  4. Bekker ended his tenure as chief executive after leading the transition to internet investment. [2]

  5. Group investment in Tencent recorded in the 2004 filing. [3]

  6. Prosus began its separate primary listing. [4]

  7. Naspers–Prosus cross-holding removed. [5]

  8. Prosus disclosed Naspers economic interest of 43.42% and voting rights of 75.66%. [4]

Company builders

  • Koos Bekker — South African media and technology executive who led the founding team of M-Net/MultiChoice and later transformed Naspers as chief executive.

Related articles

Related institutions

  • Takealot — South African e-commerce business launched in 2011 after the Take2 acquisition, later combined with Kalahari and brought under Naspers control.
  • Prosus — Separately listed international internet group controlled by Naspers through voting rights, with an economic interest that differs from voting power.
  • Tencent — Chinese technology business established in 1998, connected to South African business history through the Naspers group’s investment and the later Prosus structure.
  • MIH Ecommerce Holdings — Naspers subsidiary identified as Takealot’s acquiring shareholder in the 2017 Tribunal decision, with distinct equity and control rights.

Sources

  1. Naspers, Group structure. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩
  2. Naspers, Annual Report 2021: Board biography of Koos Bekker, 2021-03-31. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩
  3. Naspers / US Securities and Exchange Commission, Naspers Form 20-F 2004: corporate history and May 2001 Tencent acquisition, pages 15 and 87, 2004-09-30. Original source. Accessed 2026-10-17. ↩
  4. Prosus, Annual Report 2026: governance page 41 and financial statements note 6(j). Original source. Accessed 2026-10-17. ↩
  5. Prosus, Group structure: listing, exchange offer, repurchases and removal of cross-holding. Original source. Accessed 2026-10-17. ↩
  6. Naspers, Leadership: Koos Bekker, chair appointment and executive tenure. Original source. Accessed 2026-10-17. ↩
  7. Naspers, Integrated Annual Report 2018: etail page 39 and acquisition disclosures page 105. Original source. Accessed 2026-10-18. ↩
  8. Naspers, Integrated Annual Report 2026: group structure, printed page 39. Original source. Accessed 2026-10-18. ↩