Senior Management
Internet - CorporateCharles SearleCEO MIH Internet Listed Assets Charles Searle joined the Naspers Group in 1997. He is currently responsible for the internet group's listed and social media assets, including Tencent Holdings Limited, a leading Chinese Internet company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and Mail.ru, a leading Russian Internet company listed on the London Stock Exchange. He is also involved in the MIH Internet Group's M&A activities where he previously held the position of Internet Chief Investment Officer. Mr Searle is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.  Hein BrandCEO Internet Latam Hein Brand joined the Naspers group in 1998 as finance executive. He is a Chartered Accountant and a former financial director of Media24, chief executive officer of Via Afrika and later managing director of Media24. He was appointed as chief executive of MIH Internet Latin America in August 2008, but retained responsibility for all MIH print media investments outside of Africa, most notably the investment in the leading Brazilian magazine publisher Abril and two Chinese print investments.  Oliver RippelCEO Internet SE Asia, India &MENA Oliver Rippel was appointed CEO Internet Africa & Middle East by MIH Internet in July 2009, and subsequently appointed CEO Internet SE Asia, India & Africa in early 2011. This includes internet assets in India including Ibibo, various businesses in Southeast Asia including Multiply.com and Sulit.com.ph, as well as selected entities in Africa including Korbitec. He joined Naspers in January 2009 as Head of Business Development in Southeast Asia before relocating to Cape Town, South Africa. Prior to working for Naspers, Oliver spent nine years at eBay – first in his home country Germany and then as part of the Asia-Pacific region in China, Korea, and Southeast Asia. There he mostly focused on strategy, business development, as well as category management and marketing operations. Oliver studied economics in Berlin, Germany. He is married and has two children.  Martin ScheepbouwerCEO MIH Internet Classifies & WEU Martin is responsible for the classifieds operations at MIH, centered around OLX, Dubizzle, Fixeads and Ricardo. In 7 years prior to MIH, he has had a variety of senior roles in internet companies, first at eBay and then at Schibsted. During this tenure he has accumulated extensive experience in all relevant business aspects such as strategy, finance, product management, operations and sales. Martin has worked in all life-cycle phases, from starting a greenfield operation to managing a mature internet company with a large staff and big financials. Moreover, Martin has chosen to broaden his professional impact by publishing some of his thoughts on best-in-class problem solving: Thinking Backwards - published in 5 languages already. He holds an MSc. in engineering from Delft University, an MBA from INSEAD and 7 years of consulting experience from McKinsey.  Bill PaladinoCEO MIH Internet South Africa Bill Paladino was appointed CEO Ecommerce South Africa in January 2012, and CEO MIH Internet Africa in April 2012. The Africa region includes various internet assets such as kalahari.com, Pricecheck, and 36Boutiques in South Africa, as well as Mocality in Nigeria and Kenya. Before joining MIH, Bill was Executive Director of Ecommerce, Dell Global managing all consumer website teams throughout Asia from Dell's Singapore regional hub . Prior to Dell, Bill was a Director at Amazon.com Japan (Tokyo) managing all Consumables categories, where he and his teams launched three successful businesses for the Japanese market. Bill was also a senior leader at Amazon.com (Seattle), as well as Wolfgang Puck Worldwide and Cooking.com in Los Angeles, California. He now lives in Cape Town, South Africa with his wife and children.  Brad PorteusRegional GM, MIH Internet Southeast Asia Brad Porteus has been working inside consumer Internet companies since 1996 including stints with multinationals like MTV and eBay and early stage growth companies like Yelp, Elance and Bubble Motion. At MIH, Brad works with regional portfolio companies in Southeast Asia offering strategic and operational guidance to the CEOs and management teams in growing our businesses by building great products and services that users love. Brad lives in Singapore with his wife and two boys.  |
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Internet - OperationsHein PretoriusCEO Allegro Group Hein joined the Naspers Group in 2000 as CEO of kalahari.com. In 2002 he became CEO of N-Direct (kalahari.com and The Book & Music Clubs) and in 2004 Hein relocated to China in the role as Internet Business Development Director, first to Shanghai and then to Beijing, to further the group’s investment activities. Hein was involved in the investments in Mail.ru, Nimbuzz, Gadu-Gadu and the Tradus Group (Ricardo & Allegro) and was relocated to the Netherlands in 2007 taking on the role of COO for the Internet Division in Europe. In September 2008 he was appointed as the CEO of the Internet Division in Europe and in April 2012 Hein was appointed to the position of CEO Allegro Group. He is a director of a number of companies in the MIH Group.  Arjan BakkerChairman Allegro Arjan Bakker was a founding member and director of Cadena, a company focusing on IT solutions from 1991-1999. In 1999 he co-founded Allegro.pl, the leading auction service in Poland. During the past 10 years he has developed a group of services in Poland and in Central and Eastern Europe, making Allegro Group one of the most successful enterprises.  Romero RodriquesCEO BuscaPé Romero holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electric Engineering with major in Computing by the Polytechnic School of University of São Paulo. Romero founded BuscaPé at the age of 20 and has been the CEO ever since. BuscaPé.com, which began in a garage in July 1988, has grown into an internet group with 18 properties operating in 28 countries. The company currently employs 1,100, distributed in nine offices in Latin America and reaches more than 60 million consumers every month.  J.C. ButlerManaging Partner Dubizzle J. C. Butler is the co-Managing Partner of the highly successful classifieds site in the Middle East, Dubizzle.com. Since 2005, the site has been the one-stop-shop for people to buy, sell, or find goods and services within their cities. As co-founder of the site, J.C.’s involvement has been a pillar to the site’s growth into a highly trafficked staple across the region. Prior to founding Dubizzle, J.C. spent a year working as a media sales professional on projects in Belgium, Germany and Kuwait. He also worked for a reputable PR agency in NYC, and re-branded, marketed and managed a high-end venue in Granada, Spain. J.C. was born in Boston, Massachusetts, grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Southern California, and in 2004 received a degree in International Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). With the entrepreneurial spirit at a young age, J.C. started a successful house painting business in San Diego, while still a high school student.  Sim WhatleyManaging Partner Dubizzle Sim Whatley is the co-Managing Partner of the highly successful classifieds site in the Middle East, Dubizzle.com. Since 2005, the site has been the one-stop-shop for people to buy, sell, or find goods and services within their cities. As co-founder, Sim’s has helped take the site from its inception to its growth across the region as a highly trafficked portal. Sim has been in the Middle East since mid-2004 and prior to founding Dubizzle, he spent one year working in corporate banking in the US and another year in media and advertising sales in the Middle East. Sim began Dubizzle.com with the intention and ambition to create a regional classified website that would improve the lives of those in the region. Having expanded the site to 15 countries, Dubizzle is in the process of making that happen. Sim grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in Finance from Louisiana State University. From the early days of arbitraging candy bars on the school playground at 10 years old, Sim has had an eye for creating value out of very little. His entrepreneurial spirit is best tested when resources are tight and creative problem-solving is required.  Miguel MascarenhasCEO FixeAds Miguel Mascarenhas has been working in the Portuguese classified/auction Internet Industry since 2000. In 2004, Miguel created Standvirtual the leading car classified website. FixeAds was founded in 2007 and together with it came the launch of the auction site Leiloes.net and later Imovirtual (real estate). In 2012 OLX.pt was integrated in FixeAds that employs an international team of over 60.  Ashish KashyapCEO ibibo Group Ashish Kashyap set up and launched "ibibo group" in 2007 and drove the creation of leading internet and mobile assets in India comprising: No 1 casual gaming platform (ibibo games); fast growing e-commerce platforms such as Goibibo.com (travel) and Tradus.in (online shopping) and Payment gateway: PayU India. Prior to launching "ibibo Group", Ashish was the Country Head of Google India, wherein he set up the domestic business operations from ground up. Before joining Google, Ashish "founded" E-Commerce businesses at Indiatimes.com and drove them to a profitable and scale position. He architected first of its kind “Reverse Auctions" platform called “Tell Your Price”; created India’s first "Travel Auction" platform and also launched ‘fixed price market places’. Ashish holds an "Economics (Honors)" from University Of Delhi, India and an "International Masters in Practicing Management (IMPM)" from Insead, Fontainebleau, France.  Caren Genthner-KappeszCEO kalahari.com Caren joined the Naspers Group in 2013 as CEO of kalahari.com. She relocated to Cape Town from Berlin, where she worked at COO at brands4friends, an eBay subsidiary and market leader in Flash Sales in Germany. Caren was with eBay Inc. for nine years in the role of General Manager for shopping.com Germany and as a Director & GM for eBay Express Germany. Her vast experience includes consulting for BCG, a leading global strategy consultancy, and co-founding a consulting company focused on high-tech and start-up businesses later acquired by Sapient. Besides being an avid runner and food lover, Caren holds a PhD in Maths and is married with 2 daughters.
 Riaan BassonMD Korbitec Riaan read Law at Stellenbosch and Queens' College, Cambridge (1986-1993) and practised as an attorney in Cape Town, Amsterdam and London, specialising in M&A work and Telecommunications Law (1994-1999). He was the business development director at M-Web from 2000-2005 and has been Managing Director of Korbitec/Property24 since 1 August 2005.  Ben ColaycoCOO LevelUp! Ben Colayco, along with his father, founded Level Up! and was the driving force in launching Level Up!’s online game companies in the Philippines, India, and Brazil. He has lived extensively in each market and has is now based in California where he manages Level Up!’s North American Joint Venture with KOG Studios from Korea. As COO he oversees the North American, Brazilian and Philippine subsidiaries. During the last 9 years in the online game business, Ben has seen the category evolve from what was originally viewed as a quirky trend in Korea, into a multi-billion dollar business model across the globe. A graduate of New York University, Ben was in the New York advertising and online advertising industry before returning to Manila to start Level Up! in 2002.  Dmitry GrishinCEO Mail.ru Dmitry Grishin graduated from Moscow State Technical University in 2001 with a degree of honour in computer-aided design. From 2001 to 2003 he served as Technical Director of Mail.ru. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Mail.ru in April 2003. Currently Mr Grishin also serves on the board of directors of Mamba and Molotok.  Sina AfraCEO Markafoni Sina is Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Markafoni, the first and leading Flash Sales Site of Turkey. Markafoni was founded by Ahmet Emre Sari, Tolga Tatari and Sina Afra in 2008 and became the first Turkish internet company expanding beyond the borders of Turkey: Markafoni launched Flash Sales sites in Australia, Ukraine, Greece and Poland between 2009 and 2011. In Turkey, Markafoni established in April 2011 zizigo.com, the leading shoe vertical site in Turkey as well as Misspera.com, a vertical cosmetics and beauty site (October 2011). The Markfoni Group is now active in five countries with over 1,000 employees. The Naspers Group acquired in July 2011 a majority stake at Markafoni and signed for one of the biggest deals in the Turkish internet. Sina is also an active Business Angel and invests through Akinon in Turkish early stage start-ups. He is founding member of Galata Business Angels, a group of Turkish Business Angels investing into online and digital opportunities, primarily in Turkey. Sina has been elected in 2012 to the “Web Entrepreneur of 2011” and “Business Angel of 2011” in Turkey. Markafoni won two awards: “Best Web Start-up 2011” and “Best Flash Sales Site 2011”. Prior to Markafoni, Sina spent more than 5 years with eBay and 12 years with KPMG. Sina received a "Diplom Kaufmann" from Münster Univercity and speaks five languages. He shares his thoughts on eCommerce in his personal blog www.sinaafra.com and on twitter (sinaafra).  Fabrício BloisiCEO Movile Fabrício Bloisi is one of the founders and CEO of Movile (formerly Compera nTime), one of the largest mobile value added services companies in Brazil and pioneer in launching services such as mobile web app stores, mobile video, smartphone apps, mobile marketing, mobile marketing, SMS voting, Mobile TV, alerts and mobile personalization. Fabricio has a Bsc in Computer Science (UNICAMP) and a MBA/MSC (FGV-EAESP). He started in the mobile industry in 2000, as the founder of Compera nTime and has actively participated in initiatives with the goal to accelerate the growth of VAS industry in Brazil, including as Chairman of Amcham Mobile Business comitee and Director of AMMB (Mobile Marketing Association of Brazil).  Stefan MagdalinskiCEO Multiply.com Stefan took over as Multiply's CEO, in charge of all product development and strategic direction, when the company relocated to Jakarta, Indonesia in 2012. Stefan has over 15 years of e-commerce experience, as an entrepreneur, technical executive and CEO. Prior to Multiply, Stefan was CEO of another Naspers/MIH company, Mocality.com, a mobile business directory serving entrepreneurs across Africa. Before Mocality, Stefan served as CTO of digital printing company MOO.com, and also helped found several startups including UpMyStreet, WriteToThem.com, TheyWorkForYou.com and The Open Rights Group.  Alec OxenfordCo-CEO OLX Alec Oxenford is an Argentine entrepreneur focused on the Internet Space. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Alec worked as a business consultant for The Boston Consulting Group in Europe and Latin America where he advised top management of leading companies on market strategy and organizational effectiveness. Prior to OLX, in 1999, Alec founded DeRemate.com, which he built into one of the two largest online trading platforms in Latin America. DeRemate was sold to an eBay affiliate in 2005. In 2003, Alec also co-founded DineroMail.com, a leading payment platform in Latin America. In March of 2006, Alec co-founded OLX.com with business partner Fabrice Grinda and as co-CEO, Alec leads the company’s Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo offices where the technology, content and customer service teams are based. Alec participates in numerous NGO Boards and was elected Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Alec graduated as MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School in 1997, having received First and Second Year Honors.  Fabrice GrindaCo-CEO OLX As an Internet entrepreneur and investor, Fabrice has successfully transposed, adapted and invested in business ideas between the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America. As co-founder and co-CEO, Fabrice drives the company's business development, investor relations, M&A and product development efforts. Prior to OLX, Fabrice was the founder and CEO of Zingy Inc., which he built into one of the largest wireless media companies in the Americas while successfully closing deals with some of the top wireless providers in the world. Within four years, Fabrice successfully grew the business to $200 million in content sales before selling the business in 2004 for $80 million. In 1998, Fabrice co-founded and was CEO of Aucland S.A., one of the top three auction sites in Europe. Before that Fabrice worked as a business consultant for McKinsey & Company. Fabrice graduated Summa Cum Laude from Princeton University in 1996 and was awarded the Halbert White prize, given to the most distinguished economics student, as well as The Wolfe Balleisen memorial prize, awarded for best thesis.  Mark ChirnsideCEO PayU MEA Born in the UK, Mark brings over 20 years of international experience in the payment and software development industry to his role as CEO of PayU MEA (Middle East and Africa). He joined Naspers in South Africa in 2010, and was appointed as CEO of PayU MEA in March 2011. Prior to joining PayU, Mark as the CEO of Ukash, was instrumental in successfully leading the company into over 40 countries across 5 continents. Mark has also held numerous senior management positions in Europe and North America, which include being Head of Paid for Services at Wanadoo, one of Europe's largest ISP's, and working for Deutsche Bank in roles such as Managing Director USA for Paybox, and COO of Paybox UK.  André de WetGM PriceCheck André de Wet started his internet career more than 15 years ago when the internet and mobile explosions were just taking shape. He weathered the storm through the burst of the first bubble and brings a real depth of understanding in these fields to the table. He's worked in the internet, mobile and financial arenas on different continents with main focus areas being Africa, Europe and Asia. He held a range of international director and CxO positions, giving him a wealth of knowledge and experience that he now brings to the MIH group. André joined the group after returning from a CEO position in Singapore in 2010 and is now involved with heading up PriceCheck, to steer and expand it as the largest price comparison site in Southern Africa.  Christian KunzCEO Ricardo Group Since October 2012, Dr. Christian Kunz has held the position of Chief Executive Officer of ricardo Group with responsibility for all the Group's businesses with e-commerce platforms and online portals in selected Western European countries. In addition to his role as CEO of the ricardo Group, Christian Kunz is also CEO Switzerland, responsible for all the businesses of ricardo.ch AG. These include ricardo.ch, auto.ricardo.ch, shops.ch and tradus.ch. He heads a team of around 300 employees. An online strategist and e-commerce expert, Christian Kunz previously served in leading management positions with eBay International AG. He built up eBay's global advertising business, and was in charge of strategy development on European and country levels. Prior to working in the e-commerce field, Christian Kunz spent five years with McKinsey & Company where he gained wide-ranging management experience. As an adviser to medium-sized and large automotive and IT companies, he developed and implemented long-term business strategies. Christian Kunz holds a Ph.D. in nuclear physics from MIT and a Masters from the University of Bonn, Germany.  Tiwa YorkMD Sanook e-Commerce Tiwa York joined Sanook as Managing Director E-Commerce in September 2011. He is responsible for building great e-commerce businesses for the Thai market including classifieds and online shopping. Prior to joining Sanook, he was Platforms Director at Omnicom Media Group (Thailand) responsible for developing the agencies digital services division. Tiwa spent seven years at DMS Group where he had various roles including Managing Director Admax Network (Thailand), DMS VP Marketing & Business Development and Managing Director New Media. He lives in Bangkok with his wife and daughter.  RJ DavidCEO Sulit RJ David started Sulit.com.ph with his wife Arianne in September 2006 as a free classified ads website targeting the Philippines. He launched the website from his bedroom and it has grown to become the most visited local website in the country. Prior to starting Sulit.com.ph, he worked as a self-taught Web Developer and as a Software Test Engineer. RJ holds a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of the Philippines.  MA, Huateng (Pony Ma)Core Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Tencent Holdings Limited Pony Ma, one of the Core Founders, Executive Director, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Tencent. Pony oversees the strategic development, overall direction and business management of the Group. Before he founded Tencent in 1998, Pony was in charge of research and development for Internet paging system development at China Motion Telecom Development Limited, a telecommunications services and products provider in China. Pony received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science from Shenzhen University in 1993 and he has more than 18 years of experience in telecommunication and Internet industries.  Ankush NijhawanCo-founder and CEO Travel Boutique Online (TBO) Ankush set up and launched "Travel Boutique Online" in 2007. Today TBO is the largest B2B travel portal in the online space in India and works with almost 14,000 travel agents in India and the Middle East. Ankush holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with major in Marketing and Psychology from Boston. In 2007, he was chosen by CNBC as a Young Turk for revolutionising the travel trade through his B2B travel portal. He lives in Delhi with his wife and has two children.  |