Prosus Hires Interim CEO 24Hrs After Incumbent Resigns

On Monday, Naspers and its international unit Prosus announced the sudden resignation of CEO Bob van Dijk, who left his role with immediate effect after ten years of service.

Ervin Tu, currently the Group Chief Investment Officer, has been named interim CEO, with van Dijk transitioning out of the role by the end of September. He will remain as an advisor for the next 12 months.

Shares in Naspers dipped 2% as a result of the shock announcement, which comes after more than 12 months of difficulty and the divestment in unprofitable enterprises including OLX Autos.

Koos Becker, chair at Naspers, said:

"The move is a mutual and amicable decision.

"Van Dijk has been in charge for a full decade. In discussions between him and the board, we felt now is the good time for a handover. When you decide on a transition, it’s best to execute that immediately.

"The moment you announce that there will be a transition and there will be a search [for a new CEO] that will take a few months, the incumbent simply loses all power. That is how companies work."

In an investor call, Bekker outlined his support for ex-Goldman Sachs and SoftBank executive Tu, who has already been mooted as a fitting successor to van Dijk.

Van Dijk was appointed Naspers CEO in 2014 before having his role extended to Prosus when it floated on Amsterdam's Euronext in 2019. He led the charge when Prosus submitted a $9Bn cash offer for eBay's classifieds business before an offer from Adevinta was eventually accepted instead.

Prosus has been through its fair share of upheaval in the past 12 months, including having its hand forced into selling Russian classifieds firm Avito due to the war in Ukraine—even if the deal did generate upwards of $2.4Bn for Prosus.

Prosus has continued to sell off assets including OLX Autos and Lamudi, and the firm went through a major round of layoffs in February to reduce costs.

Nevertheless, the Group retains a major interest in classified websites worldwide:

Prosus Classifieds Assets