Just in: Allan Gray passes away age 81

CAPE TOWN – Allan Gray, the founder of Allan Gray asset manager and one of South Africa’s greatest philanthropists, has passed away at the age of 81, the company announced on Monday.

“It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the death of Allan William Buchanan Gray on 10 November 2019, of natural causes. 

“Our first thoughts are with his family, and like colleagues and friends, we are mourning the passing of a man who made an immeasurable impact on many lives as an entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist.

“He has earned his rest,” the asset manager said in a statement.

Gray started working for the asset management firm Fidelity Management and Research in Boston, where he stayed for eight years. 

He returned to South Africa in 1973 to establish what would become Allan Gray Investment Management in Cape Town. The company initially focused on investment counselling, later growing to include institutional clients.

Gray established the Allan Gray Foundation in 2007 with a $130 million endowment to fund bursaries and scholarships for talented South African high school students. 

This was the largest single recorded donation to a charity in South Africa at the time. In 1979, he founded the Allan and Gill Gray Charitable Trust.

In 2016 Allan donated his entire stake in his company to the Allan and Gill Gray Charitable Trust so that dividends from his share in both the South African company and the Orbis Group can be exclusively used for philanthropic purposes.

BUSINESS REPORT