Bill Venter

William Peter "Bill" Venter (born 29 July 1934, in Johannesburg) is a South African businessman, entrepreneur and industrialist.

Venter has achieved significantly in the electronics, telecommunications and power electrical sectors, both in South Africa and abroad. He is chairman of Allied Electronics Corp Ltd (Altron), Bytes Technology Group (BTG) and the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. He is on the Board of Directors of Bytes Technology Group (BTG), Power Technologies (Pty) Ltd (Powertech), Allied Electronics Corp Ltd, Telemetrix Plc, UEC Multi-Media, Allied Technologies Ltd (Altech), AMIC Ltd., Nedcor Bank Ltd. and Standard Telephones and Cables SA. He is a trustee of Pres Mandela's Children's Trust Fund.

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
• Technical Doctorate Technikon Witwatersrand
• Doctor of Commerce University of the Free State
• Doctor of Commerce University of Pretoria
• 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 2005 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.
• Bill Venter has twin daughters from a wife he abandoned in the UK that were born on 14 February 1956. One daughter's name is Marie and she is a hairdresser in Pretoria.

External links

• Who's Who in South Africa