TO some people, it is just a company, a corporate social responsibility initiative, or a unit trust product provider. However, behind the name was an actual being – Allan William Buchanan Gray.
He passed on over the weekend due to natural causes.
The Cape Town-based investment management 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”.
It has been learnt that he died of a heart attack.
Born in South Africa’s East London area in 1938, he founded Allan Gray Investment Management – an investment firm – in 1973. The company now has offices in 14 countries worldwide, including Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. In 1989, he set up Orbis Investment Management in London to focus on investing in international markets, which he relocated to the tax haven of Bermuda after just two years of operation.
According to Forbes, Allan Gray is the largest privately owned asset manager in South Africa, overseeing more than US$35 billion in assets.
Forbes also described Gray as notoriously private, and in 2005, he founded the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, which provides scholarships to African students who demonstrate exceptional leadership potential.
In December 2015, he announced plans to donate the bulk of his wealth to charity.
A shrewd investor he was, many attest.
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