Billionaire financial planning boss reveals dementia diagnosis

The founder and chairman of South Africa’s PSG Group has announced that he was recently diagnosed with an early form of dementia.

|

Johannes (Jannie) Mouton (71), also known as the “Boere Buffett”, founded financial services group PSG in 1995.

In a voluntary disclosure on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, translated from the original Afrikaans, Mouton said that he “believed in honest and transparent communication”.

Mouton admitted to lapses in short-term memory, resulting in “that I sometimes forget people’s names, repeat myself or may appear somewhat disoriented”.

“This does not happen every day, but I cannot ignore it.”

Describing PSG as his life, Mouton said he is on “medication to help manage and limit the symptoms”.

He became non-executive chairman of PSG in 2010 and resigned from most of his underlying company boards in the past few years.

However, after consultation with senior colleagues, “we feel that I still have a contribution to make as PSG Group’s non-executive chairman, given that PSG Group’s executive management team is very strong with the necessary depth, experience and knowledge”.

PSG Group offers financial planning, investments, life insurance, healthcare and employee benefits services, among others.

In 2015, Forbes list ranked Mouton as the 24th richest person in Africa, and eighth richest in South Africa.

He ranked 1,940th in the 2017 global billionaire’s index.

MORE ARTICLES ON