Business magnate Allan Gray dies at 81

Allan Gray – South African business veteran, investor, philanthropist and founder of the Allan Gray Foundation – passed away at the age of 81.
According to a spokesperson at his firm, Gray passed away over the weekend while in Bermuda. The cause of death was revealed as a heart attack.
The company will release a statement in due course.

Allan Gray’s legacy

Gray established the Allan Gray Foundation in 2007, an organisation aimed at supporting young entrepreneurs. Throughout the years, he donated the bulk of his wealth to charity.
The Allan Gray Foundation was established with a $130 million endowment, the largest single recorded donation to a South African charity.
The organisation provides South African students with scholarships, from schooling to tertiary education; as well as support for small businesses and startups.
In 2017, Forbes estimated that Gray’s net worth was $1.8 billion.

Private life and business ventures

Gray was born in East London in 1938 and completed his schooling at Selborne College before studying accounting at Rhodes University.
He went on to earn an MBA at Harvard Business School in 1965 and returned to South Africa in 1973 to establish the Allan Gray Investment Management.
Gray founded Orbis Investment Management Limited in the late eighties in London. Some 26 years later, Orbis managed over $30 bill in assets.
At the same time, Allan Gray Investment Management was becoming South Africa’s largest privately-held investment management firm, with approximately $35 billion in client capital.