How Vusi Thembekwayo Went From Being A Wits Dropout To Amassing $60 Million

Blessed with the gift of a flawless oratory, Vusi Thembekwayo is a South African public speaker, whose public speaking skill is the stuff of greatness.

Since the age of 15, he has stunned thousands of people with his amazing use of words, which always have had the capability to command rapt attention in any room he’s walked into.

Vusi has traveled all over the globe, speaking at events and conferences, leaving his listeners open-mouthed with his over the top speeches.

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He’s been reported to have spoken in 4 of the 7 continents in the world, to over 350K people each year and has raked in a lot of money in the process.

He is worth a staggering $60 million, Thembekwayo has become one of the most most wealthiest figures in south africa at the moment. His willfulness and clear vision has set him apart from most people his age.

An overachiever, Vusi rose from near obscurity to establish himself as one of the highly sought-after public speakers in the world.

Apart from public speaking, he’s also an author, venture capitalist and business mogul, who is the CEO of MyGrowthFund
Venture Capital, an investment firm he founded in 2014.

He’s respected for his charm and accomplishments all over South Africa and beyond.

Background

Contrary to what most people think, Vusi Thembekwayo wasn’t born into a wealthy family, he was born on the 21st of march 1985 in Benoni, to an average-earning parents.

Thembekwayo’s foray into entrepreneurship started on a bad note during his teen years, when his father started a business using their house as collateral.

The bank was about to repossess the house but luckily, Thembekwayo’s father was able to solve his debt situation.

Because of that experience, Vusi now understands risk, he knows that whatever one has today, can all be gone tomorrow.

Although his father resolved the debt situation, he couldn’t escape tragedy, as thieves shot him nine times for his cellphone.

At 15, this was a very difficult period for Thembekwayo, he was best friends with his father. They did everything together and went everywhere together.

According to Thembekwayo, the only reason why he wasn’t with him that day was because his mom was ill, and had to stay with her at home.

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Education

Coming from an ordinary background, life was difficult at times for him, but in the end, he managed to get a good primary and secondary education.

After matriculating, Vusi enrolled for a Bcom degree at the University of Witwatersrand. Unfortunately, he was forced to drop out in his first year due to a lack of finances.

This did not stop him though, it actually sparked his creative side to make other plans for earning money.

Job Seeking

Vusi started looking for a job in shopping malls and any other potential place of employment, nothing fruitful came out of this.

Despite these many setbacks, Vusi continued horning his oratory skills. He knew he was good at talking in public and convincing people, in the years that followed, he used that to his advantage.

Having realized the difficulty of finding a job, Vusi used this personality trait coupled with some of the international networks he acquired through public speaking in previous years.

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Global Professionals SA

Vusi started recruiting apprentices in South Africa for jobs based in England and Australia, this initiative led to the creation of his first company called Global Professionals South Africa(GPSA).

A global recruitment agency which Thembekwayo operated from the comfort of the four walls of his bedroom

By the time he turned 20 in 2005, he was already ranked first in africa for public speaking and third in the world.

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Good Deal Goes Bad

Vusi then sold a portion of GPSA to a johannesburg-based agency, in an effort to digitize his company, but the move backfired. It proved a premature move in having made a poor choice of business partners, Vusi was soon out of business and money.

Although he was disappointed and sad for having lost his company, he still didn’t let that setback drown him, he knew other opportunities will come his way sooner or later.

Metcash Group

In 2007, after one particularly captivating speaking engagement, where Thembekwayo utilized his skills in finance and public speaking to telling effect, he walked away from the event with a lucrative job offer from Metcash Group.

Vusi went on to become an executive at Met Cash Group, one of the largest consumer goods businesses in Africa, where he started, grew and managed a multi-million dollar portfolio worth $40 million.

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Motiv8 Advisory

In 2009, Thembekwayo launched Motiva8 Advisory, he launched the company as an offshoot of his speaking business, as client sought management advisory services and the research which informed his keynotes

The company is the leading human resources management and development consultancy, that specializes in capacitating managers and leaders to deliver business results through their people.

Thembekwayo cashes in…

In 2017, after eight years of operation, Thembekwayo sold his majority stake in Motiva8 Advisory, for an undisclosed amount worth millions to a US-based Watermark Advisory.

MyGrowthFund

After the sale of his majority stake in Motiva8 Advisory, Thembekwayo used aportion of the sales proceeds to establish MyGrowthFund Venture Capital, an investment company of which he’s the CEO.

The company’s mission is to build over 300 sustainable businesses, create 100 000 jobs, and also invest in 100 high growth startups by the end of 2030. So far MyGrowthFund has created 3 900 full-time jobs.

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The rest as they say, is history

Vusi Thembekwayo went on to launch other businesses, co-found several projects, author two books, sit on the boards of many companies, become a judge on Dragons, travel the world, inspire millions around the globe and so much more

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