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Ivan Saltzman, the man behind pharmacy giant Dis-Chem, has just handed over a cool 25% stake, or 217 million shares of the company, to his two sons, Dan and Mark Saltzman.
Based on Dis-Chem’s share price on 19 June, that’s worth around R6.8 billion. Yes, billion. Heaven alone knows what this means for their tax bill.
Before the massive pre-inheritance, Ivan and his wife, Lyn, who co-founded the business with him, held nearly 30% of Dis-Chem through various vehicles. Now, after the Thursday handover, Dan and Mark each hold 12.62%. Neither had any shares before this.
Not much is known publicly about Dan, but Mark is a commercial lawyer who founded his own firm, Saltzman Attorneys & Notaries, back in 2006.
This isn’t the first time the Saltzmans have reshuffled their shareholding. Back in 2021, they started selling down their stake from over 50% to just over 30%. They offloaded 7% to the open market for about R2 billion, and another 3.75% went to Dis-Chem executives, including Rui Morais, who took over from Ivan as CEO in July 2023.
They also sold 10% to black economic empowerment (BEE) groups, including Royal Bafokeng Holdings and Black Panther, a firm linked to businessman Sandile Zungu’s Zico Investments.
In 2025, the Saltzmans launched a R885 million management retention scheme, offering shares to eight key execs. The shares, which come with a four-year lock-up and five-year vesting period, are essentially being loaned by Ivan, meaning Dis-Chem itself isn’t footing the bill.
Morais, now CEO, got the lion’s share – R408.5 million worth – while the other seven each received shares worth R68 million.
One of those seven? Saul Saltzman, Ivan’s third son and the current executive director at Dis-Chem. His stake was issued through The Saul Saltzman Family Trust, though even with that, Saul officially owns just 700,000 shares – less than 1% of the company.
Earlier this year, Ivlyn sold off another R1.425 billion in shares. Following all these moves, the Saltzman co-founders now own just 35 million shares in Dis-Chem. Still the largest individual holding, but only just. Stanley Goetsch, via his Stansh vehicle, isn’t far behind with 29.9 million shares.
Institutional investors have also carved out big pieces of the pie. Royal Bafokeng Holdings owns 5%, while Coronation Fund Managers and the Government Employees Pension Fund (via the PIC) hold 16.13% and 11.28%, respectively.
Even though Ivan officially stepped down as CEO last year, both he and his wife Lynette remain actively involved. And yes, they’re still getting paid handsomely.
Last year, Ivan earned R17.8 million, Lynette got R14.4 million, and son Saul received just under R8 million.
[Source: Moneyweb]
