At the age of 72, South African wealthy businessman Douw Steyn passed dead.
Steyn was a remarkable businessman who established a massive international enterprise spanning seven nations, encompassing businesses in real estate, hotels, and insurance.
According to the UK Sunday Times Rich List, his estimated net worth in 2024 was R70 billion.
Steyn established Steyn’s Insurance Brokers in Johannesburg in 1975. He recognized the possibility of a monthly policy that included coverage for both vehicles and household items.
Following several years of operation in South Africa, Steyn turned his attention to the US market. He did, however, return to South Africa in 1985 after securing an insurance license that enabled him to offer auto insurance over the phone, a first for the world.
Auto&General Insurance was established in Johannesburg as a result of this upheaval in the global insurance market.
The idea of telephone insurance was completely novel at the time, but Steyn transformed the insurance market by transforming the way insurance was purchased and sold through Auto&General.
Due to Auto&General’s success, several of the top financial service providers in South Africa, including as Budget, 1st for Women, Dialdirect, 1Life, and hippo.co.za, were introduced. The TIH umbrella includes these brands.
Steyn City’s Douw Steyn
Later, Steyn relocated to the UK, where he founded the BGL Group, the parent firm of Compare the Market, a popular website for pricing comparisons.
To duplicate the success of its companies in South Africa and the UK, the Group established Auto & General in Australia in 2000.
In 2012, Steyn resigned as Executive Chairman of his international corporate holdings. Together, these companies currently have approximately 10,000 employees spread over more than 50 offices worldwide.
The establishment of Steyn City, a 2000-acre residential and lifestyle development in northern Johannesburg, more recently brought Steyn’s vision of creating a city inside a city to life.
In addition to his many charitable endeavors, Steyn recently committed R370 million to support coronavirus relief efforts through the Douw Steyn Family Trust and the businesses he created.
A relief fund of up to R70 million was established to assist small enterprises, R50 million went to the National Solidarity Fund, and R250 million supported feeding programs in Diepsloot, Cosmo City, and beyond.
Steyn’s three children, their families, and his wife, Carolyn, survive him.
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