Cape Town - Aviation entrepreneur Rob Hersov, an heir to one of South Africa's biggest industrial and mining empires, has taken a 15.4 percent stake in Air Berlin, making him the biggest shareholder in the low-cost airline.
Hersov's family, along with the Menell family, founded the now unbundled Anglovaal empire. But Rob Hersov has cut his own path in the world's most prominent business circles, despite his lofty upbringing.
Years before last week's news that his Vatas Holdings had bought a stake in Europe's third-largest low-cost carrier, Hersov worked for News Corporation in New York as a business development executive, reporting directly to founder Rupert Murdoch.
Following this, in 1992, the London-based South African, son of former Anglovaal chairman Basil Hersov, was appointed head of Morgan Stanley's European media investment banking team.
The University of Cape Town-educated Hersov made a kind of return to his South African roots after an appointment to Richemont's main board, reporting directly to executive chairman Johann Rupert.
Hersov built up a European media division for Stellenbosch-based Rupert.
Thereafter he served as the chief executive of Richemont's Italian pay television company Telepiu, and eventually played a key role in selling it off to Canal Plus.
The Murdochs and the Ruperts were not the only top international business leaders he crossed paths with.
In 2002 Hersov founded executive jet service Marquis Jet Europe, but in 2004 he sold it to rival Netjets, controlled by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. He remains the vice-chairman of Netjets Europe.
Despite the success in selling Marquis, Hersov's venture into the dotcom world with high-profile sports internet business Sportal failed. But unlike many dotcoms, Sportal managed to pay off staff and creditors when it closed.
The foray into airlines marks a shift for him away from working for tycoons, into entrepreneurship.
The Financial Times has speculated that his purchase of the Air Berlin stake could be a sign that the airline could soon be up for sale.
Shares in the company rose 10 percent on the news of the purchase, valuing it at about e900 million (R9 billion).
But Hersov could not be reached to comment on his plans for Air Berlin or South Africa's rapidly growing low-cost airline industry, which is gaining attention with the approach of the 2010 football World Cup.
The Hersov and Menell families founded Anglovaal in 1933. It was unbundled in the late 1990s, but lives on in various forms such as food processor AVI, glass maker Consol and, on the mining side, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM). Hersov's brother, James Hersov, is a non-executive director of AVI. Rick Menell is ARM's non-executive deputy chairman.