Ivan Saltzman, who built Dis-Chem from one Johannesburg pharmacy in 1978, is South Africa's newest dollar billionaire at $1.3 billion as he retires at 75.
SOUTH AFRICA · WEALTH
Key Facts
—A new billionaire: The Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranked the Saltzman family for the first time in early July 2026, at about 1.3 billion dollars, roughly 23 billion rand.
—One store, 1978: Ivan and Lynette Saltzman, both pharmacists, bought a single pharmacy in Mondeor, south of Johannesburg, for 10,000 rand.
—The empire: Dis-Chem grew into a national health-and-beauty chain valued around 1.7 billion dollars, listed on the Johannesburg bourse since 2016.
After spending 48 years transforming Dis-Chem, a single neighbourhood pharmacy into one of southern Africas largest healthcare…
Nearly 50 years after Ivan and Lynette Saltzman opened a small discount pharmacy with just R10,000, the founding family is taking…
CEO pays tribute to founder Ivan Saltzman in his annual letter to shareholders
Saul Saltzman's departure follows an earlier move from an executive to a nonexecutive role
Johann Rupert has crossed $20 billion on the Bloomberg index, the second African after Aliko Dangote, lifted by Richemont and his…
South African-born biotech entrepreneur and physician Patrick Soon-Shiong has become the richest person in Los Angeles, with an…
