The man who went from being a bad maths student to running a R400 billion South African bank

Although he was not a top achiever in high school, Gerrie Fourie became the CEO of Capitec Bank, one of South Africa’s most successful banks with a market capitalisation of over R400 billion.

Born in 1964, Fourie spent his early childhood in Wepener, a small town in the eastern Free State. “I spent my first six or seven years in Wepener,” he recalled. 

“Then my parents moved to Bloemfontein, but on weekends I was back on the farm.” Fourie learnt a lot about business from his entrepreneur father, who never worked for a salary or for somebody else. 

As a young boy he would spend Friday afternoons and weekends with his dad installing telephone poles across the Free State. 

Working with his dad taught him not only about the value of hard work, but also to think innovatively to solve problems.

Despite the early exposure to business through his father, Fourie was far from an academic. “I was not a very good student at school. I was more into sport, so studying and maths came second,” he said. 

He matriculated from Grey College in Bloemfontein in 1981 and, after completing military service, moved to Stellenbosch in 1984 to pursue a BCom degree, later followed by an honours in accounting at Stellenbosch University.

It was at university that Fourie’s mindset began to shift. “It was actually when I started my BCom Accounting that I got serious about school,” Fourie said. 

“By my second year, I decided this is what I want to do, and I really went for it. I didn’t want to work for a salary. I wanted to build my own business.”

Fourie began his career at Stellenbosch Farmers’ Winery (SFW), working in financial planning before managing the company’s sales and distribution. 

His trajectory was swift. “I was lucky. At 27, I was asked to run the SFW operations in KwaZulu-Natal. At 32, I was given the old Transvaal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng.”

The start of Capitec Bank

Fourie said that when he was 37, he got a call asking if he wanted to help start a bank. That call came from Carl Fischer, who introduced Fourie to Michiel le Roux, the future co-founder of Capitec. 

“I didn’t know Michiel personally, but I knew of him. After a few conversations, I was in. It was just the excitement of building something from scratch,” said Fourie.

In 2000, Fourie joined what would become Capitec Bank. At the time, they were venturing into the unknown. 

“We knew nothing about banking; we came from liquor, but the idea of doing things differently really drove us.” 

Capitec was officially founded in 2001. It initially offered short-term loans with just 55 branches and 25,000 clients, with a plan to disrupt the traditional banking model. 

Their customer-first approach led to innovations that were considered radical at the time. This included branches without glass dividers, equal pricing for all income groups, and longer operating hours.

“Looking back, we were probably a little crazy. Trying to build a bank with very little capital and take on the big four, but we believed in our model,” he added. 

Although many initially saw Capitec as a bank for lower-income, rural South Africans, the plan was always broader. 

“From day one, our plan was to bank 95% of South Africans.” That goal, he said, took years to realise. “People only really began to understand us around 2012 or 2013.”

After serving as Chief Operating Officer, Fourie took over as CEO on 1 January 2014. Under his leadership, Capitec expanded dramatically. 

Fourie’s future plans

Today, it boasts nearly 900 branches, over 24 million clients, and holds a 15% market share among high-income earners.

“It’s been over two decades of working weekends, late nights, constantly challenging ourselves,” said Fourie. “Capitec is part of my DNA. I’ve lived and breathed it.” 

On 28 March 2025, Capitec announced that Fourie would step down as CEO at the annual general meeting on 18 July 2025. 

He has been part of the bank’s executive management team for 25 years. “It has been an extraordinary privilege to lead Capitec through a period of tremendous growth and transformation,” he said.

The company credited him with fostering a culture of innovation and growth and praised the strength of the leadership team he built. 

“Gerrie has built a strong and diverse leadership team poised to carry the bank into the future,” the bank said.

Although he’s stepping down from the CEO role, Fourie won’t be leaving entirely. “I’ll definitely stay involved for the next couple of years, and hopefully, one day, I’ll join the board.” 

His confidence in Capitec’s future remains strong. “About four or five years ago, we started bringing in a new team full of passion and experience. With Graham Lee at the helm, I’m confident Capitec will reach new heights.”

Fourie now plans to spend more time on one of his long-held passions, which is conservation and tourism. “Coming from a farming background, I’ve always wanted to return to the land,” he said. 

He’s currently part of a group that owns the Gondwana Game Reserve in the Western Cape. “We want to bring conservation back, develop tourism, create a world-class experience that includes the Cape, the Big Five, and golf.”