Business Daily Business Daily meets: Fani Titi, Investec CEO
9 snips
Oct 9, 2025 Fani Titi, CEO of Investec, shares his inspiring journey from a farm in apartheid South Africa to leading a global banking group. He reflects on the lessons learned as a middle child in a large family and how education became his escape route. Titi discusses the daring leap he took to switch careers, nearly cashing in his pensions for an MBA. He also talks about steering Investec through the 2008 crisis and the challenges of becoming CEO during COVID, emphasizing the importance of sustainability and long-term strategic choices.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
From Farm Childhood To Education Breakthrough
- Fani Titi escaped a predetermined life on a farm after his father fought the farm master and the family left when he was 12.
- That move into a labour-camp area allowed him to access education and change his trajectory.
Scholarship And A Fulbright Changed His Path
- Fani Titi won a scholarship to study mathematics at a designated university and later earned a Fulbright to UC Berkeley.
- He returned to South Africa to lecture but soon reconsidered a career focused only on theoretical research.
Make Deliberate Career Shifts With Preparation
- Decide deliberately when to change careers if your skills or motivations shift towards working with people.
- Invest in learning (Titi used an MBA funded by his pension) and accept risk to pursue a new path.