CEO and founder of Datatec, Jens Montanana, one of South Africa's highest-paid executives, could receive a R1.30 billion immediate cash injection following a special dividend the company declared in August 2026.
A special R29 dividend declared by South African tech company Datatec could see its CEO, founder, and largest individual shareholder, Jens Montanana, become over R1.3 billion richer come 19 October.
Montanana is often listed among the best-paid technology executives in South Africa. His total remuneration package for the 2025 financial year was R130 million.
Divided by a standard 52-week calendar year, Montanana therefore made R2.5 million every week during Datatec’s last financial year, or R356,000 per day.
The tech CEO is British by nationality, but his company, Datatec, is headquartered in Sandton, Johannesburg and is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
Montanana studied electronic engineering at the University of Reading in Berkshire, England. He would found Datatec in 1986, but would only officially become its CEO after it was listed on the JSE in 1994.
He served as the managing director of US Robotics in the UK from 1989 to 1993. This business was later acquired by 3Com in 1997.
Montanana would be involved in the founding and development of other ventures between South Africa, the UK, and the United States in the late 90s and early 2000s.
The year he left US Robotics, he founded US-based startup Xedia Corporation, which designed and manufactured hardware and software for network routers.
Montanana would always be involved at Datatec, which was initially split into two businesses: Datatec Networking and Communications and POStec.
He was at the helm of Datatec for two years before the company launched one of its first major joint ventures, partnering with UUNET in 1996 to form the Internet service provider UUNET Africa.
In 1997, Datatec would begin its international expansion, acquiring what would become its two main operating divisions.
The first of these was the UK IT firm Logical Networks, which was rebranded as Logicalis International. The other was US-based distributor Westcon, in which it acquired a 92.5% stake for $160 million in 1998.
Logicalis Latin America joined these companies to round out the three main operations under Datatec, which continue to operate to this day.
Jens Montanana, Datatec founder and CEO
For the year ended 28 February 2026, the company reported profit after tax of approximately R1.78 billion. This represented a 56.9% growth from the R1.12 billion it reported in the previous financial year.
On 24 August, Datatec issued a notice to shareholders announcing a special dividend of R29 per share, with a total capital return of R7.05 billion.
The special dividend was the result of a deal between Datatec’s Westcon International subsidiary and the US investment firm General Atlantic.
Under the deal, General Atlantic loaned $375 million to Westcon to pay back an existing $450 million shareholder loan from Datatec to its subsidiary.
On top of the loan, which is high priority and must be repaid within six years, General Atlantic paid $25 million to acquire a 5% stake in Westcon.
The proceeds of the deal flowed back to Datatec, which is passing it to shareholders as a special dividend of 2,900 cents per share.
Shareholders may take the default action and receive cash for their shares, or they could choose the scrip option, electing to receive ordinary shares in Datatec instead of cash.
Montanana is Datatec’s single largest shareholder, holding a 19.01% equity stake in the company as of 28 February.
This meant that the special dividend payout could see him receive R1.3 billion before taxes if he chooses the cash instead of the scrip option.
If he chooses to take cash, he would be eligible to receive over a billion rand on 19 October, without having to dispose of any of his 44.9 million ordinary shares in Datatec.
Evidence from recent shareholding disclosures showed that Montanana regularly opts for scrip rather than cash payouts.
Between 28 February 2025 and 28 February 2026, the Datatec CEO’s total shareholding in the company grew from 18.04% to 19.01%. This allows him to compound his ownership in the company over time.
