South African tycoon Jonathan Jawno faces $106-million stock wipeout

Omokolade Ajayi -

South African multimillionaire businessman Jonathan Jawno has experienced a substantial decrease in his net worth as the market value of his stake in Transaction Capital took a hit of over $100 million due to the recent crash in the share price of the Johannesburg-based financial services group.

According to data tracked by Billionaires.Africa, Jawno, who ranks among South Africa’s wealthiest businessmen, has seen the market value of his stake in Transaction Capital slump by a staggering R1.97 billion ($106.8 million) since the beginning of the year.

Transaction Capital is a prominent South African financial services group that specializes in asset-backed lending and niche risk services. The company is a non-deposit financial services entity operating in South Africa and Australia.

As a founding member of Transaction Capital, Jawno holds a significant 9.59-percent stake in the investment holding. The sizeable stake consists of 72,667,000 shares, making Jawno the second-largest shareholder in the group, second only to Public Investment Corporation, Africa’s largest fund manager.

The share price of Transaction Capital has experienced a devastating 82-percent decline since the start of the year, falling from R33.1 ($1.789) on Jan. 1 to R5.91 ($0.319) at the time of drafting this report, as investors continue to offload the company’s shares after taking a significant hit to its earnings.

The financial services company, which operates in both South Africa and Australia, recently decided to forgo dividends due to a substantial R2.1 billion ($112.5 million) headline loss in its SA Taxi business during the six-month period ending on March 31, 2023.

As a result of Transaction Capital’s share price wipeout, the market value of Jawno’s stake in the Johannesburg-based financial services group has seen a sharp decline of R1.97 billion ($106.8 million), falling from R2.41 billion ($130.01 million) at the beginning of the year to R429.46 million ($23.21 million) at the time of preparing this report.

The downturn in the market value of his stake has significantly impacted Jawno’s net worth, underscoring the challenges faced by even the most affluent businessmen in the current financial landscape.