Mark Lamberti

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Mark James Lamberti (born August 4, 1950) is a South African-Italian businessman. He was the founder, former chief executive and later chairperson of Massmart.[1][2]  Lamberti also served as chief executive at Transaction Capital and Imperial Holdings Limited.[3][4][5]

Early life and education[edit]

Lamberti was born in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, the first of five children to Antonio Amato (Tony) Lamberti and Catherine Julia (Betsy) Byrne.[6]

He initially pursued a professional musical career for four years before he met and married his wife Annette and transitioned into business.[7]

He holds a bachelor's degree in Commerce from the University of South Africa (1984) and an MBA from the University of the Witwatersrand (1987).[7]  Lamberti is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, having completed the Presidents’ Program in Leadership in 2001.[8]

Career[edit]

Bradlows Limited (1980 – 1986)

Lamberti joined Bradlows Limited, a furniture retail chain, as a branch manager in Ladysmith.[5][7] Over the next six years, he became the Operations and Marketing Director, responsible for the entire business besides finance and accounting.[9]

Jazz Stores Limited (1986 – 1988)

Natie Kirsch and Mervyn King of Tradegro later recruited Lamberti to become a director of Jazz Stores, a supermarket chain targeted at low-income consumers. He was later appointed chief executive of Fairways Frasers, its largest division, where he was part of the team that listed Jazz Stores on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 1987.[10][11][12]

Massmart (1988 – 2014)

In August 1988, Lamberti became the Managing Director of the six-store Makro chain of warehouse club outlets, owned by Wooltru Group.[13]  He used the Makro asset to establish Massmart in 1990.[7][14][15]

After Massmart was acquired by Walmart in 2011, Lamberti remained as non-executive chairperson at the behest of Walmart until he resigned in March 2014.[1][16]

Transaction Capital (2008 – 2014)

In July 2008, Lamberti was appointed the chief executive at Transaction Capital Limited.[17] He served as non-executive chairperson until March 4, 2014, when he resigned to serve as chief executive at Imperial Holdings Limited.[18]

Imperial Holdings (2014 – 2018)

Lamberti joined Imperial Holdings Limited as chief executive on March 1, 2014, leading a turnaround initiative that resulted in the disposing of 42 companies and acquiring 52 properties, leading to the listing of Motus Limited and Imperial Logistics Limited on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.[19][20][21]

Controversy[edit]

Lamberti resigned from Imperial Holdings shortly before the completion of the unbundling initiative and the separate listing of Motus Limited and Imperial Logistics Limited on April 30, 2018.[22][23][24]

His resignation followed a court finding that he had impaired the dignity of Adila Chowan, a staff member in a subsidiary of Imperial Group, by referring to her as a “female employment equity” candidate earlier in 2015.[25][26][27]

He apologised publicly to Chowan, saying, "My statement, intended to indicate attentiveness to the Employment Equity Act and society's expectations of business, was not malicious or meant to hurt or demean her in any way and I regret and apologise for any hardship that it caused.”[28][29][30]

Media[edit]

  • 2018 - Win! Compelling Conversations with 20 Successful South Africans, by Maggs Jeremy. ISBN 9781431425648[31]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "CEO Today Africa Awards". FlippingBook. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  2. ^ Culverwell, John (2015-11-05). "The Mark Lamberti leadership journey". Moneyweb. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  3. ^ "What's the new buzz word in business? Ethics. It can boost economic growth". City Press. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  4. ^ Hogg, Alec (2019-11-14). "Correction: Setting record straight on Transaction Capital founders". BizNews.com. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  5. ^ a b "What makes Mark Lamberti tick? - Moneyweb". moneyweb.co.za. 2015-07-30. Archived from the original on 2015-07-30. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  6. ^ South Africa's Greatest Entrepreneurs. MME Media. 2010. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-620-45687-6.
  7. ^ a b c d "Mark Lamberti: Over achiever". leader.co.za. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  8. ^ Maggs, Jeremy (2019-01-03). WIN!: Compelling Conversations with 20 Successful South Africans. Jacana Media. ISBN 978-1-4314-2564-8.
  9. ^ Gleason, David; Nkomo, Stella M.; Jongh, Derick De (2012). Courageous Conversations: A Collection of Interviews and Reflections on Responsible Leadership by South African Captains of Industry. Van Schaik Publishers. ISBN 978-0-627-02970-7.
  10. ^ "Transaction Capital announces an intention to list on the stock exchange operated by the JSE Limited" (PDF). thevault exchange. June 2012.
  11. ^ "Keynote address - Mark Lamberti & Yasmin Kumi". edu.ava360.com. 2018-03-28. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
  12. ^ "Mark Lamberti, Non - Exec. Board Dir., Telkom Sa Ltd". www.walkersresearch.com. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
  13. ^ "Behind Massmart's JSE exit". The Mail & Guardian. 2022-11-17. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  14. ^ "Why Mark Lamberti is splitting apart a transport empire". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  15. ^ Clark, Andrew; York, New (2010-09-27). "Wal-Mart sets sights on Africa in £2.9bn bid for Massmart". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  16. ^ Bridge, I.-Net. "Walmart to ask Lamberti to stay as chair". Business. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  17. ^ "Lamberti resigns as Transaction Capital CEO". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  18. ^ "Imperial Appoints Massmart Founder Mark Lamberti as New CEO". bloomberg.com. 2014-02-20. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  19. ^ "Right royal turnaround at Imperial". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  20. ^ "Imperial - Efficiencies Sought in Unbundling". bbrief. 2018-09-18. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  21. ^ "Lamberti votes with his wallet". Moneyweb. 2014-03-11. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  22. ^ "Imperial Holdings: Breaking up is the easy part". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  23. ^ "Lamberti Insult Casts CEO Out of South Africa Business Elite". Bloomberg.com. 2018-04-18. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  24. ^ Friedman, Steven (2018-04-10). "South African business must tackle its deeply rooted prejudice". The Conversation. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  25. ^ Correspondent. "Former AMH employee wins race and gender discrimination case". News24. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  26. ^ "Court finds Imperial's Mark Lamberti impaired the dignity of black, female staff member". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  27. ^ Niselow, Tehillah. "How race, gender blunder cut short Lamberti's 40-year corporate career". Business. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  28. ^ "Lamberti apologises unreservedly for 'employment equity' comment". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  29. ^ "Lamberti insists he has not been found to be racist' sexist". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  30. ^ Hogg, Alec (2018-04-05). "Imperial CEO Mark Lamberti goes public, tells staff his side of racism accusations". BizNews.com. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  31. ^ Maggs, Jeremy (2018). Win!: Compelling Conversations with 20 Successful South Africans. Jacana Media. ISBN 978-1-4314-2564-8.
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