Imperial Holdings has pulled off a coup of significant proportions by attracting 63 year old Mark Lamberti into the hot seat. Lamberti, one of South Africa’s most successful entrepreneurs, takes over as CEO from Hubert Brody on March 1. Lamberti founded the R24.5bn Massmart in 1990 and after retiring as CEO in 2007, in his role as chairman engineered its sale to US giant Walmart.
Over the last six years Lamberti built Transaction Capital, a successful financial services business that has been selling off its diverse parts for substantially more than it acquired them. He resigned as CEO at the end of November.Â
 Directors of the R33.8bn group which employs 51 000 say the decision to appoint Lamberti was reached after an extensive search by the Nominations Committee, during which a number of external and internal candidates were considered. Chairman Thulani Gcabashe said: “We are delighted to have appointed someone of the calibre of Mark Lamberti. We are confident that his experience, exceptional leadership skills and expertise will benefit Imperial and its stakeholders. The group is well positioned to continue executing its strategy.”
The official statement from Imperial says Lamberti will step down as chairman of Massmart  and of Transaction Capital “in due course”. Brody will remain on the board of Imperial as a non-executive director. Lamberti said: “I am honoured to succeed Hubert, and before him the late Bill Lynch, as the leader of this remarkable group and look forward to working with Imperial’s highly skilled leadership team to deliver value for stakeholders.” – AH
