Allan W.B. Gray
Born
Allan William Buchanan Gray

(1938-04-08)8 April 1938
East London, South Africa
Died10 November 2019(2019-11-10) (aged 81)[1]
Bermuda
EducationSelborne College
Alma materRhodes University
Harvard Business School
OccupationFounder of Allan Gray Investment Management
Years active1973–2019
SpouseGill Gray
Children3

Allan William Buchanan Gray (8 April 1938 – 10 November 2019) was a South African billionaire businessman and philanthropist.[2] He founded the privately owned investment management company named after him, and the non-profit Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, and the Allan and Gill Gray Charitable Trust. Before he donated his stake in the Allan Gray investment management company, his net worth was estimated to have been US$1.8 billion in 2017.[3]

Early life

Gray was born in the South African city of East London in 1938. His family had migrated from Aberdeen, Scotland to the then Cape Colony town of Butterworth in the 1890s.[4] His grandmother was the first female mayor in South Africa when she was elected mayor of Butterworth years later and had attended the University of Aberdeen.[4] Gray stated that his grandmother played a large role in his future success by instilling a family focus on education.[4]

After completing high school at Selborne College, he studied accounting at Rhodes University and went on to earn an MBA at Harvard Business School in 1965.[5][6] Gray was known to be dyslexic.[4]

Career

After Harvard, Gray started working for the asset management firm Fidelity Management and Research in Boston, where he stayed for eight years.[5] He established a reputation for being a successful contrarian investor in the economic crash of 1962.[4]

He returned to South Africa in 1973 to found what would become Allan Gray Limited in Cape Town. The company initially focused on investment counseling, later growing to include institutional clients. He then set up Orbis Investment Management in 1989 in London to focus on investing in international markets. Two years later the company relocated its headquarters to Bermuda.[5][7] By 2015, Orbis was managing over $30 billion in assets. Similarly, Orbis's sister company, Allan Gray grew to be South Africa's largest privately held investment management firm, managing over $35 billion in client capital, making Gray one of Africa's richest men, with a net worth above $2 billion.[8] The return on investment from Allan Gray and Orbis since its founding is comparable in success to Warren Buffett's firm Berkshire Hathaway.[9]

Philanthropy

Gray established the Allan Gray Foundation in 2007 with a US$130 million endowment to fund bursaries and scholarships for talented South African high school students. This was the largest single recorded donation to a charity in South Africa at the time.[5][10] In 1979 he founded the Allan and Gill Gray Charitable Trust.[11] In 2016 Allan donated his entire stake in his company to the Allan and Gill Gray Charitable Trust so that dividends from his share in both the South African company and the Orbis Group can be exclusively used for philanthropic purposes.[8][12]

Awards and honours

In 2012 Gray was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Cape Town.[11]

Personal life and death

He was married to Gill Gray, and they lived in Hamilton, Bermuda.[3] Their son, William Gray, was president of Orbis in 2007.[13]

He died of a heart attack in Bermuda on 10 November 2019.[14][15]

References

  1. ↑ Omarjee, Lameez (12 November 2019). "Allan Gray was an investment disruptor - and changed many young lives". Fin24. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  2. ↑ "Allan Gray passes away". Moneyweb. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Forbes profile: Allan Gray". Forbes. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Planting, Sasha (12 November 2019). "BUSINESS MAVERICK: Obituary: Allan Gray: Death of a gentleman". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Allan Gray Climbs To The Top Of The Rich List In South Africa". Jewish Business News. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "Allan W.B. Gray, MBA 1965 - Alumni - Harvard Business School". www.alumni.hbs.edu. January 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  7. ↑ Heystek, Magnus (8 October 2013). "85 billion shades of Gray". Moneyweb. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  8. 1 2 "7th Richest South African Gives His Entire Business To Charity". Uncova. 9 January 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  9. ↑ Heystek, Magnus (28 May 2014). "Allan Gray vs Warren Buffett: Who is the best investor?". Moneyweb. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "The man behind the brand". Mail and Guardian. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  11. 1 2 Makwela, Mologadi (29 February 2012). "UCT to honour Allan Gray, Fink Haysom and others". University of Cape Town. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  12. ↑ Crotty, Ann (10 January 2016). "Allan Gray's donation may be SA's biggest yet". Timeslive. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  13. ↑ "The man behind the brand". Mail & Guardian. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  14. ↑ "Investment pioneer Allan Gray dies". Fin24. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  15. ↑ Cairns, Patrick (11 November 2019). "Allan Gray passes away". Moneyweb. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
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