By Alec Hogg
I was treated to lunch yesterday by yet another Saffer who has done incredibly well in the big wide world. Andre Crawford-Brunt used to be a regular on my radio show in the late 1990s. Articulate and well networked, he gave us Deutsche Bank’s insights at a time when the firm dominated research and trading in JSE-listed stocks.
Andre went on to run the Equities Trading side of then mighty Deutsche’s London operations and was then promoted to New York. After 22 years with the group, his 2015 departure was significant enough to make Bloomberg. Since then he has been spending his days finding and investing in businesses that are changing the world – including being on the ground floor at Jet.com which was acquired for over $3bn by Walmart.
I’m looking forward to sharing his story with you in the weeks ahead. But what was most interesting from yesterday’s lunch was how passionately he feels about South Africa – and how optimistic he is about the impact technology is having on the world.
South Africa has many wonderful ambassadors selflessly flying its flag globally. It would be helpful if the politicians made it a little easier for the Crawford-Brunt’s to do so.
