The billionaire CEO who left South Africa for Singapore

Zak Calisto, who founded Cartrack and Karooooo, now lives in Singapore, from where he runs his multi-billion-dollar company founded in South Africa.

Calisto’s stake in Karooooo, where he serves as chief executive, is worth over $1 billion, making him one of the richest South Africans.

However, like many other South African billionaires, he is no longer based in South Africa. He moved to Singapore in 2020 along with Karooooo’s headquarters.

This decision was partly based on Karooooo’s global expansion plans, where Singapore serves as a more suitable base for international reach.

Before the move, Calisto’s company was known as Cartrack, which was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Its headquarters were in Johannesburg.

He decided to delist Cartrack from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and restructure it under its parent company, Karooooo.

Delisting Cartrack from the JSE was part of a bigger plan to list the new entity, Karooooo, on the NASDAQ in the United States.

Calisto explained that the NASDAQ was a natural home for global software-as-a-service (SaaS) and technology companies.

Investors on the NASDAQ are generally more willing to pay higher multiples for fast-growing tech companies than investors on the JSE.

Headquartering the parent company in Singapore and listing it in New York also better reflected their global growth strategy.

Singapore serves as a natural gateway for corporate expansion into Southeast Asia, Europe, and global markets.

On 1 April, 2021, Karooooo listed its shares on the NASDAQ. The initial public offering raised $33.8 million to fund global expansion and research and development.

Over the last five years, the Karooooo share price increased by 88%, which also saw Calisto’s wealth exceed $1 billion.

Calisto said that despite the corporate head office move to Singapore, South Africa remains a vital operational hub, revenue driver, and key R&D centre for Cartrack.

The move was a structural holding decision rather than an abandonment of its South African operational roots.

Zak Calisto’s path to becoming a billionaire

To understand Calisto, Cartrack, and Karooooo, it is valuable to go back to the 1980s, when he decided on a career in finance.

He started actuarial science at the University of Witwatersrand, but dropped out when he realised that it was not a good fit for him.

He completed his compulsory military service, worked at Standard Bank between 1986 and 1991, and then decided to become an entrepreneur.

He became a Netstar distributor and helped the company expand into South Africa’s neighbouring countries. In 2001, he launched Cartrack as a joint venture with Netstar.

The joint venture with Netstar didn’t work out as either company had envisaged, and in 2004, he went on his own.

Initially launched as a stolen vehicle recovery company in South Africa, Cartrack has grown into a multinational powerhouse with operations in 23 countries.

The company also expanded from recovery to offering tracking, data analytics, and business intelligence.

Cartrack was listed on the JSE in 2014 and quickly became a darling among investors due to its strong growth.

When the company delisted from the JSE and announced plans to list on the NASDAQ, shareholder support was overwhelming.

99% of eligible Cartrack investors chose to swap their shares rather than cash out, highlighting the confidence in the company’s long-term trajectory.

Commenting on the strange name, Karooooo, Calisto explained that they wanted to name the company Karoo and needed to buy the karoo.com domain.

However, the American who owned it wanted a few million dollars for it. “I just registered ‘Karoo’ with three up to ten os at the end,” he said.

“Over time, we also learned it’s just a name. You can call it whatever you want,” Calisto told Daily Investor’s Smart Money with Alisha Seckham.

Today, Karooooo is a global provider of data analytics solutions for mobile asset management, asset recovery, and workforce optimisation.

Its brands include Cartrack and Karooooo Logistics, and the company recorded quarterly revenue of R1.6 billion in Q1 2027. It has 2.8 million subscribers.