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South African mogul Zak Calisto has seen the market value of his equity holdings in Singapore-based mobility platform Karooooo Limited fall by more than $360 million since the start of this year, as investors fled dozens of companies listed on NASDAQ between 2020 and 2021.
Calisto, who founded Karooooo in 2001, has grown the mobility platform into a major global provider of smart transportation management and analytics, serving customers in 23 countries across five continents and supporting more than 1.4 million users internationally.
According to data obtained by Billionaires.Africa, Calisto’s 66-percent stake in the platform, which also operates Cartrack, has decreased by $363 million since the year began.
The decline in the market value of his stake can be attributed to a drop in the company’s share price, as investors continue to reduce stakes in the Singapore-based company as part of a move to preserve wealth and channel investment into less risky asset classes.
The shift in market sentiment is the result of investors reacting to persistently rising inflation and gas prices, as well as aggressive Fed hikes, which have stoked fears of a recession among analysts, traders, and other market participants.
Shares in Karooooo have dropped from $40.78 at the beginning of the year to $23 at the time of writing this report, resulting in a 43.6-percent loss for shareholders.
As a result of the sharp decline in the company’s valuation, the market value of Calisto’s stake has fallen by $363.1 million, from $832.7 million when the year began to $470 million at the time of drafting this report.
Despite the recent drop in his net worth, Calisto remains one of South Africa’s wealthiest businessmen. On Sept. 12, he will also receive $11.68 million in dividends from his majority stake in Karooooo.
The dividend will be paid from the company’s retained earnings of R1.28 billion ($79.1 million) at the end of its fiscal period in 2022.
