South African billionaire Zak Calisto has sold $11.5 million of Karooooo stock in three weeks

Zak Calisto sold another $2 million of Karooooo stock last week, his third disposal in three weeks, taking the total he has raised since late July to roughly $11.5 million.

The South African founder, chief executive and executive chairman of the Nasdaq-listed company disposed of 31,279 shares on Aug. 6 and Aug. 7 at a weighted average price of $63.76, according to a Form 4 filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The execution price sat slightly below the $64.81 close recorded on the final day of the transaction.

The pattern began in late July. Calisto sold 98,476 shares worth about $6.3 million across four consecutive trading days, then 50,527 shares on July 29 and July 30 at a weighted average of $64.08, raising a further $3.24 million. The three disposals cover 180,282 shares, a Billionaires.Africa calculation based on the filings.

His remaining position stays enormous. Calisto held 17,819,482 shares directly after the July sales, leaving roughly 17.79 million once the August block cleared, worth about $1.15 billion at the Aug. 7 close. The month's selling has trimmed the holding by around 1 percent.

Neither Calisto nor Karooooo has given a reason for any of the sales.

The timing places the disposals near the top of the stock's range. Karooooo returned 40 percent over the 12 months to Aug. 7 and has traded within a 52-week band of $41.25 to $66.23. The shares sit well above both the 200-day and 50-day moving averages, and the company carries a market capitalisation of $2 billion on a price-to-earnings ratio of about 33.

Calisto has made larger exits before. He disposed of 248,932 shares in a single transaction in 2024, and a separate sale netted roughly $75 million at an average of $50 a share, reducing his holding by 6.6 percent. A secondary offering of 1.5 million shares, worth about 1.3 billion rand, cut his direct holding to 58 percent.

His disclosed direct position understates his overall exposure, because shares held through a private vehicle sit alongside it. Insider ownership at Karooooo has run between 69 percent and 75 percent in recent years, among the highest concentrations of any Nasdaq-listed company, with Calisto consistently the largest holder by a wide margin.

The business underneath has been performing. Karooooo owns all of Cartrack, the vehicle telematics company Calisto founded in South Africa in 2004, and 81 percent of Karooooo Logistics. Subscription revenue rose 19 percent to a record 1.35 billion rand, about $84 million, in the three months to May 31, the first quarter of its 2027 financial year. Operating profit increased 16 percent to a record 410 million rand and adjusted earnings per share rose 11 percent to 9.53 rand. Total revenue was up 22 percent.

Subscriber acquisition drove the quarter. The company runs a software platform for connected vehicles across Africa, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, and employs 7,395 people.

Calisto crossed the billion-dollar mark for the first time in May 2025, when a rising share price lifted his then 65 percent stake past the threshold. He dropped back below it after the secondary offering, and the stock's climb since has carried the smaller holding back over the line.