William Peter Venter (born 29 July 1934, in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
) is a South African businessman, entrepreneur and industrialist.
Venter founded Allied Electronics Corporation (Altron) in 1965. Acquisitions under his leadership included
Bytes Technology Group in 1998 (following a demerger in December 2020, Bytes Technology Group became a listed entity its own right).
Awards
* 2006 Top 100 Lifetime Achiever (''Sunday Times Business Times'')
* 1991
Order for Meritorious Service (Gold) (State President of South Africa) for significant contribution to South Africa’s electronics industry
* 1989 Leadership in Practice Award (University of South Africa SBL)
* 1984 Top Executive in South Africa (Management)
* 1978 Top Five Businessmen (''Business Times'')
Degrees
* 2004 Master of Philosophy
Rand Afrikaans University Business Management cum laude
* 2001 Master of Business Administration
University of Wales
Honorary degrees
* Doctor of Engineering
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...
* Technical Doctorate
Technikon Witwatersrand
The Technikon Witwatersrand was a technikon located in Johannesburg, South Africa. On 1 January 2005, it merged with Rand Afrikaans University and the Soweto and East Rand campuses of Vista University to form the University of Johannesburg. The fo ...
* Doctor of Commerce
University of the Free State
The University of the Free State is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State (province), Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It was first established as an institution of higher learning in ...
* Doctor of Commerce
University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...
* Doctor of Commerce
University of Port Elizabeth
* Doctor of Science (Engineering)
University of Natal, Durban
Personal life
He has four sons and a daughter. Two of his two sons, Robert and Craig, were from his first marriage to Jean Georgina Poole. In 1994, Edith, Venter's second wife and mother of two of his sons, was awarded a record R12-million divorce settlement. She was married for the third time in 1995 to Johannesburg businessman Garth Carstens.
*
Robert Eben "Robbie" Venter, born 7 May 1960, is chairman of Aberdare Cables and Director of Bytes Technology Group Ltd., Allied Technologies Ltd (Altech), and Group chief executive of Allied Electronics Corp Ltd (Altron).
* Craig Gordon Venter was born 4 July 1962. He studied at
University of California Los Angeles and obtained a BSc (Econ), a BA (Psychology) and an MBA and MSc (Management Science) from
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
.
References
External links
Who's Who in South Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venter, Bill
Afrikaner people
South African people of Dutch descent
South African businesspeople
1934 births
Living people