Vusi Thembekwayo
Born in Benoni, by the age of 17, Vusi was already ranked 1st in Africa for motivational speaking. As one of the top motivational and keynote speakers alive today, he has spoken in 4 of the 7 continents to over 250 000 people each year. At 25 he ran a R400mn division in a R17bn multi-national. Today he is one of the youngest directors of a listed company and is the CEO of a boutique investment and advisory firm that forces medium, large and listed businesses into much needed, often painful, always lucrative new directions. He also serves on several boards. However, be-
fore that success came he had to work hard to get where he wanted to be. It didn’t just come easy, nor was success just handed to him. On opening day when he went to Benoni High, he wore his father’s suit.” He said. “It’s hard when you stand there and there’s rows and rows of kids and they are all looking at you like you come from a different planet but that’s all I could wear.” Vusi wants to see others around him succeed too, and has since started his own Growth fund, supporting business people as they start out, to assist them in building their businesses by providing advice and implementation support across various disciplines.