Vusi Thembekwayo

South African businessman and author

Vusi Thembekwayo

Born	Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa
Citizenship	South African
Education	University of the Witwatersrand
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, author, businessman
Website	vusithembekwayo.com

Vusi Thembekwayo (born March 1985) is a South African entrepreneur, author, and businessman. He is the founder and CEO of the MyGrowthFund Venture Partners.^[1]^[2]^[3] He is the author of two books.

Early life and education

Thembekwayo was born in Benoni on the East Rand of Transvaal province of South Africa.^[4] On completion of his secondary education, he then enrolled at the University of Witwatersrand where he studied Management Advanced Programme and commerce. He then did a postgraduate diploma in Business Administration from the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS).^[5] He also did an executive MBA in Business and Economics from Ashridge Executive Education and Hult International Business School.^[5]

Entrepreneurship

From 2014 to 2015, Thembekwayo was one of the investors, or "dragons" on South Africa's Dragons' Den reality TV series by Mzansi Magic with other dragons including Vinny Lingham, Gil Oved, Lebo Gunguluza among others.^[6]^[7]

Personal life

In April 2020, Thembekwayo married Palesa Mahlolo Thembekwayo (née Makhetha) and they have three children.^[4]^[8] In 2021, she accused him of physical abuse, allegations he has denied.^[9] Their divorce settlement over property was ongoing as of January 2023.^[8]^[9]

Controversies

In 2023, Thembekwayo made a controversial statement and later apologised to the family of slain rapper Kiernan "AKA" Forbes for using his name for "cheap political point-scoring".^[10]^[11]^[12]

Bibliography

Thembekwayo, Vusi (2017). Vusi: Business & Life Lessons from a Black Dragon. Tafelberg Publishers Ltd. ISBN 978-0624077718.
Thembekwayo, Vusi (2018). The Magna Carta of Exponentiality. Iconoclasts Knowledge Bureau.

Audiobooks

Vusi: Business & Life Lessons from a Black Dragon (2019) narrated by Hanyani Mangwani on Audible, Amazon, ASIN B07S2YRLKP and iTunes.

References

^ Delport, Jenna (2021-03-02). "Silicon Cape Appoints New Co-Chair". IT News Africa – Up to date technology news, IT news, Digital news, Telecom news, Mobile news, Gadgets news, Analysis and Reports. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
^ Jackson, Tom (2022-02-11). "Meet the Investor: Vusi Thembekwayo, MyGrowthFund Venture Partners". Disrupt Africa. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
^ AfricaNews (2018-08-23). "South Africa's Vusi Thembekwayo in drive to incubate more black-owned businesses". Africanews. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
^ ^a ^b Vellem, Mihlali (2023-03-01). "Five things to know about Vusi Thembekwayo: Net worth and more". The South African. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
^ ^a ^b "He survived failure, tragedy and lost millions". www.forbesafrica.com. 2015-10-01. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
^ "Dragons' Den | Season 1 | TVSA". www.tvsa.co.za. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
^ Cordeur, Matthew le. "Vusi Thembekwayo: Being a dragon changed my life". Business. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
^ ^a ^b Patel, Faizel (2022-08-01). "Vusi Thembekwayo tries to save marriage after wife dumps him". The Citizen. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
^ ^a ^b Reporter, Citizen (2023-01-30). "Vusi Thembekwayo divorce battle gets ugly". The Citizen. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
^ Mphande, Joy (2023-03-09). "'I'm desperately sorry that I amplified your suffering' — Vusi Thembekwayo apologises to AKA's family". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
^ "'We do not have to agree but the conversation is important' – Vusi Thembekwayo". 702. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
^ Heever, Megan van den (2023-03-08). "Sorry, not sorry? Vusi Thembekwayo 'apologises' for AKA comment". The South African. Retrieved 2023-05-30.