Michael Joseph made a name for himself as the founding CEO of Safaricom Plc and one of the most successful CEOs of the telco, which is East Africa’s largest company by market value and revenue. Michael Joseph is also considered the Father of M-Pesa as he is credited with the remarkable success of the M-PESA mobile payments system.
Considering how huge Safaricom has become in recent years, the pioneer of mobile money says he is not rich due to the fact that he has been an employee all his career.
“I have not invested in companies and made a fortune of any kind. Where you make money in a company like Safaricom or Vodafone is that you get allocated shares based on your performance then at some point you can sell those shares.” Mr Joseph, who also serves as the chairman of Kenya Airways was quoted by Kenya based newspaper Business Daily.
Michael Joseph owned 1.17 million shares in Safaricom Plc but sold his entire stake in the course of the financial year ended March 2019. At the time, he said that he had offloaded his shares to fund the construction of his retirement home.
READ; Michael Joseph offloads his shares in Safaricom
Michael Joseph on His Net Worth
“I don’t have a fortune. I have one house which I bought which is in West Wales and I have a flat in London and those are my total assets. There is no fortune. People talk about a Shamba or a ranch in Laikipia, but I don’t have one. I have a home in Lewa, which I rent from the landowner. Money is useful, of course. We all need to live and eat but I’ve not been one to try to be very rich. I will never be rich. I will never own a yacht.” says Mr Joseph adding that he drives an Audi but his lifetime ambition is to own a Ferrari.
He also serves as the Chairman of Kenya Airways and sits on the board of Safaricom even after resigning as the Chairman of Safaricom. Joseph had chaired the board since August 2020.
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