Tycoon Strive Masiyiwa To Close Facebook Page After 13 Years, Pays Tribute To Editor
Telecommunications tycoon and Econet founder Strive Masiyiwa will close his Facebook page that he has been running for 13 years and has paid tribute to his editor who helped run the page.
In a farewell statement titled “Now, go forth and change Africa to make it better and better”, Masiyiwa said the time has come to close down his Facebook page, noting that he has not posted anything new since 18 July this year deliberately, and he sincerely hopes it will not be necessary to post again.
Unlike a lot of people who post on social media platforms like Facebook, Masiyiwa said he was not looking to build and then sustain a followership. He just wanted to share some of his own learnings over an entrepreneurial career that has spanned nearly 40 years.
Masiyiwa’s page has 5.5 million followers.
“As with any teacher, the idea is always to teach, then allow the students to go out and put some of the lessons to practical use, and then sit back and watch them become better and greater than yourself,” he said.
Masiyiwa said he feels that now, 13+ years since his first post in August 2013, mostly on a weekly basis for almost 12 of those years, it is time to take a long-earned rest.
He paid special tribute to Ms Kathi Bouma who acted as editor, and also did much of the research and setting of each post, such as the images. He also thanked Shingi Jena who managed the technical side of the platform, adding that Shingi will continue to manage the archived materials, and to police the site to ensure criminals don’t misuse the materials.
Masiyiwa said his posts will remain on the page for reference, but should not be published or distributed in book form, or any other form, warning that this would invoke the wrath of his legal team.
He also issued a strong warning against fraudsters using his name.
“I shared this information here freely. If anyone ever asks you for money or to do anything that requires you to contribute to anything [using my name] that takes money from you, it is not me,” he said.
“Every week we find ourselves reporting sites that have been set up as fake accounts in my name, including even deepfakes. These are all criminal activities by people who are not as smart as you guys, so please don’t fall for it. If a social media page in my name does not have a green or blue verification tick… BEWARE!”
Masiyiwa emphasized that this is his ONLY Facebook page and he has never set up or endorsed another one, nor any “investment group” on any platform, and never will. He said he has also never created any WhatsApp Groups.
He added that although corporate teams will manage his official accounts on other social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Twitter (X), he rarely, if ever, uses them, with the exception of LinkedIn where he posts occasionally.
“This is it. I’m now almost 66 years old, and I never stop thanking the good Lord for my exceptional health. I have no desire to stop learning and developing new businesses, so you will continue to hear about me from time to time,” he said.
“The most important thing to me is that you become successful as entrepreneurs using the technical principles that I have taught, which are universal, but most importantly, that you succeed whilst maintaining the highest ethical standards possible. #EverythingTurnsOnThis.”
“Thank you again for the years we have spent together on this platform. You blessed me in more ways than you can possibly imagine. Now, go forth and change Africa to make it better and better. God bless and strengthen you all,” he said signing off as Baba Strive Masiyiwa, father of The Lion Cubs of Africa.
-Fanuel Viriri