All the companies billionaire Jannie Mouton owns
Billionaire Jannie Mouton is one of South Africa’s most successful investors, with his early bets on Capitec and PSG Financial Services earning him the “Boere Buffett” nickname.
These two companies are among the best-performing shares on the JSE since their respective listings. Capitec has an all-time return of 334,346%, and PSG 295% over the past decade.
His investments in these two companies, held through the JF Mouton Family Trust, have put Mouton’s net worth at $2.7 billion (R43 billion) according to Forbes.
This is an exceptional return for a man who was fired from the first company he started, Senekal, Mouton & Kitshoff.
Mouton said his partners’ decision to kick him out of the stockbroking firm was a blessing in disguise, as it enabled him to start PSG.
Joining forces with Stellenbosch native Chris Otto, Mouton acquired PAG for R7 million and renamed it PSG Group.
The sale of PAG’s personnel placement agency gave PSG a R107 million war chest to invest in its chosen financial services market.
In another stroke of dealmaking genius, Mouton and Otto reverse-listed PSG onto the JSE through Servgro, which was a shell company at the time.
These early years would prove instrumental for PSG, as it founded PSG Fund Management and PSG Konsult, as well as a tiny business called PSG Specialised Lending.
While the first two businesses are exceptional companies today under SPG Financial Services, it was the overlooked Specialised Lending operation that was the major money spinner.
This was the precursor to Capitec, which specialised in unsecured lending and laid the foundation for the bank that listed on the JSE in 2002.
At the time of the listing, PSG owned 58% of Capitec and stayed the course despite the bank’s shares crashing below R1 per share after Saambou Bank collapsed in late 2002.
The banking crisis put severe pressure on PSG Group, which began disposing of some of its assets to generate cash and address its large discount to value.
Included among these was the first unbundling of some of its Capitec shares to PSG shareholders. At this point, the investment returned 99% for shareholders.
Mouton has admitted that he laments the unbundling of Capitec in the early 2000s, given how exceptional its growth has been since then.
PSG somewhat corrected this mistake later by re-entering Capitec through a deal with its Black Economic Empowerment partner, Arch Equity. This gave it 20% of the bank’s shares.
The holding company gradually increased its Capitec shareholding to 34.9% while seeking to minimise dilution.
When PSG finally unbundled all its Capitec shares, its holding was worth R28.84 billion, representing a return of over 2,500%.
Mouton and his son, Piet, remain major shareholders in Capitec, with each owning 5% of the company today. These stakes are worth R27 billion each at the bank’s current valuation.
The Mouton empire
Mouton’s success with Capitec has enabled PSG and his trust to invest in new businesses and develop existing operations within the group.
Chief among these has been PSG Financial Services, which was born out of PSG Konsult and PSG Fund Management.
This business is exceptional in its own right, having tripled shareholders’ money over its decade as a separately listed company on the JSE.
With R564.6 billion in assets, the company is one of the largest investment managers in the country. However, its real crown jewel is its insurance business.
In its 2026 financial year, PSG Financial Services grew its headline earnings to R1.68 billion, and revenue surged to R10 billion.
Mouton’s family trust retains a 13.16% stake in the company, which is valued at R5.2 billion.
The family trust retains a significant shareholding in PSG Group, which was delisted from the JSE in 2022. This makes it hard to determine how much of the company Mouton owns.
Its last annual report showed that Mouton held 20% of the net shares in issue, with his son Piet holding 2.9% in his own name.
PSG Group remains an active investor in primarily unlisted assets, with Stadio and Zeder being its last notable JSE-listed investments. It owns 26% and 49% of the companies, respectively.
Other major investments include private energy utility Energy Partners, in which it owns 91%. Related to this is its 39% stake in Rubicon, a renewable energy product importer.
Most recently, Mouton has been in the news for his foundation’s R7.2 billion purchase of Curro, which it has delisted and taken private.
| JF Mouton Family Trust | Investment stake |
| Capitec | 5.09% |
| PSG Financial Services | 13.16% |
| Jannie Mouton Foundation | Investment stake |
| Curro | 100% |
| PSG Group | Investment stake |
| Stadio | 26% |
| Energy Partners | 91% |
| Optimi | 81% |
| Rubicon | 39% |
| ButtaNutt | 54% |
| Zeder | 49% |
| PSG Capital | 74.9% |
| ProVest | 39% |
| SNC | 35% |
| Spirit Capital | 49% |
| Alveo Water | 60% |
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