Graham Lee has officially begun his tenure as Capitec CEO, after the lender’s mainstay executive Gerrie Fourie bid the group farewell at the AGM held on Friday.
Fourie — said to have been hand-picked by the group’s founder, erstwhile CEO and chair Michiel le Roux for the role — will still be involved in rolling out the company’s strategy, particularly its international expansion ambitions.
“The most I have learnt in the 25 years with the bank is working with clients and asking them questions about our products. A lot of strategies have been developed by feedback and insights we got from clients,” Fourie said, before reflecting on what Lee brings to the CEO office.
“Graham started his journey with Capitec in 2002 as my business analyst. If you look for a leader going forward, particularly in running a bank or a large financial services company, you need very good insight into technology and how to use it to optimise client experience,” he said.
“You also need to understand data and strategy, and how to execute on that strategy. The last thing is, which is important is to have passion for people. And I know Graham has all four attributes. It’s a privilege for me to hand over the baton to Graham to lead Capitec into the future.”
Fourie, who became emotional at the end of his speech as he thanked his family, including his wife, father and two sisters who were in attendance, has been the group’s CEO for 11 years, a period that has seen exponential growth.
The group’s headline earnings grew from R2.5bn in the 2015 financial year to R13.7bn in the year ended February 2025. This as the group’s client base grew from 6.2-million in 2015 to
24-million.
The bank, under Fourie, has also grown from a microlender to a diversified financial services group, increasingly attracting high- income earners.
The lender has 51% market share of SA’s youth population, with 11.1-million of its clients aged 16-35.
One of the areas Lee is expected to focus on is growing the group’s business banking proposition, which has just a 1% market share.
It will be a tough order as rivals, including Nedbank, FNB, Standard Bank and Absa, are also upping their game in lending to SMMEs.
Capitec’s share price has surged more than 300% over the past five years, valuing the group at about R400bn.
Its share price of just under R3,500 a share is a far cry from the R6 it was quoted at in 2003.
The explosion in Capitec shares has seen its founders grow incredibly wealthy, with Le Roux worth about $2.5bn (R44bn), according to Forbes.
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