Table of Contents
Key Points
- Zimbabwe’s richest man no longer owns Netflix shares after offloading his remaining 290 shares for $387,596 on July 1.
- Masiyiwa’s exit came the same day Netflix insiders, including Reed Hastings and CFO Spencer Neumann, also sold shares.
- Masiyiwa’s Cassava Technologies is deploying Nvidia GPUs across Africa to build the continent’s first AI infrastructure.
Zimbabwe’s richest man Strive Masiyiwa no longer holds shares in Netflix after recently selling off more stock in the U.S. streaming giant. The move follows a wave of insider selling by several directors at the California-based company, signaling a broader trend among top stakeholders to unlock value from their holdings.
Masiyiwa sells remaining Netflix shares
Masiyiwa, who joined Netflix’s board of directors in December 2020, sold 290 shares on July 1 at $1,336.54 each, bringing in $387,596. With this latest sale, the Zimbabwean billionaire no longer directly owns any common stock in the company, according to recent filings.
The sale happened on the same day Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann also offloaded shares. It follows another sale by Masiyiwa in May, when he sold 1,002 shares for about $1.1 million, part of a broader pattern that has seen him steadily reduce his Netflix stake over the past year.
In total, Masiyiwa has sold 4,105 Netflix shares over the past year and hasn’t bought any new ones during that time. His decision to fully exit mirrors a broader shift among big investors, including hedge fund firms like John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Investments, which have also scaled back their positions in Netflix.
Billionaire builds Africa’s AI future
Though best known for his role in Africa’s telecoms sector, Masiyiwa’s presence on the Netflix board reflected his growing global influence in technology and media. Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.2 billion, making him Zimbabwe’s richest individual.
He founded Econet in 1998, which has since grown into one of Africa’s largest telecom groups, with operations in over 20 countries. Masiyiwa still holds a 38 percent stake in Econet Wireless Zimbabwe and owns a third of EcoCash, Zimbabwe’s leading mobile money platform.
In recent years, he has expanded his business portfolio beyond telecoms into fintech, energy, and satellite technology. His pan-African firm, Cassava Technologies, is now leading several ambitious projects, including the launch of Africa’s first artificial intelligence factory.
Built in partnership with global chipmaker NVIDIA, the AI facility aims to serve African governments, businesses, and researchers with advanced computing power while ensuring data sovereignty across the continent.
Nvidia GPUs deployed in South Africa
The rollout has already begun. South Africa recently became the first country on the continent to receive high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) from the project.
According to Cassava President Hardy Pemhiwa, about 3,000 Nvidia GPUs were installed at the South African site in June. Over the next few years, an additional 9,000 will be deployed across Kenya, Nigeria, Morocco, and Egypt.
The project will also embed Nvidia’s AI software through its cloud architecture, boosting the continent’s capacity to develop homegrown, AI-driven solutions in health, education, infrastructure, and more.
