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South African pharma tycoon Stephen Saad, chief executive of Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd., has seen the value of his stake in the pharmaceutical group fall by more than $20 million after a recent decline in the company’s share price on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
Stephen Saad’s stake falls by $20 million
Saad, who co-founded Aspen in 1997 and helped turn it into one of Africa’s largest drugmakers, owns about 12.8 percent of the Durban-based company. Over the past two weeks, the market value of his holding has dropped by roughly R348.48 million ($20.27 million), cutting the total value of his stake to around $318 million.
The setback comes only weeks after a short-lived rebound in late August and mid-September, when Aspen’s share price briefly recovered enough to lift Saad’s stake by nearly $11 million. At that point, his shareholding was worth R5.93 billion ($340.76 million). That gain has now been wiped out as the stock once again lost ground.
Aspen stock falls 6 percent in two weeks
Under Saad’s leadership, Aspen has grown from a small South African manufacturer into a multinational with operations in more than 115 countries. The company supplies medicines across Africa and emerging markets, but it continues to face headwinds. Shifting demand, higher input costs, and pricing pressure have weighed on its margins and earnings this year.
Aspen’s shares have slipped nearly 6 percent in the past two weeks, falling from R101.87 ($5.92) on Sept. 19 to R95.78 ($5.57) by early October. The decline has dragged the company’s market cap down to $2.5 billion. For Saad, the market value of his holding has dropped from R5.83 billion ($339.08 million) to R5.48 billion ($318.81 million) over the same period.
Shares are down over 41 percent so far in 2025
Aspen Pharmacare’s stock has dropped 41.9 percent in 2025, reducing a $100,000 investment at the start of the year to about $58,100. The decline highlights the mounting pressure on the pharmaceutical company and underscores the pressure facing CEO Stephen Saad.
