Bill Venter or William Peter Venter born 29 July 1934 Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

, is a South African businessman, entrepreneur and industrialist.

Venter has achieved significantly in the electronics, telecommunications and power electrical sectors, both in South Africa and abroad. He is chairman of Allied Electronics Corp Ltd (Altron), Bytes Technology Group (BTG) and the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research is South Africa's central and premier scientific research and development organisation. It was established by an act of parliament in 1945 and is situated on its own campus in the city of Pretoria...

. He is on the Board of Directors of Bytes Technology Group (BTG), Power Technologies (Pty) Ltd (Powertech), Allied Electronics Corp Ltd, Telemetrix Plc, UEC Multi-Media, Allied Technologies Ltd (Altech), AMIC Ltd., Nedcor Bank Ltd. and Standard Telephones and Cables

Standard Telephones and Cables

Standard Telephones and Cables Ltd was a British telephone, telegraph, radio, telecommunications and related equipment R&D manufacturer. During its history STC invented and developed several groundbreaking new technologies including PCM and optical fibres.The company began life in London as...

 SA. He is a Trustee of Pres Mandela's Children's Trust Fund

Awards

• 2006 Top 100 Lifetime Achiever (Sunday Times Business Times)
• 1996 Engineer of the Year
• 1991 Order for Meritorious Service
  Order for Meritorious Service
  The Order for Meritorious Service was an award in South Africa which ran from 1986-2002 and was the country's highest honor. It was awarded to South Africans who have rendered exceptional public service. It was awarded to people by the order of the President...
  
   (Gold) (State President of South Africa) for significant contribution to South Africa’s electronics industry
• 1989 Leadership in Practice Award (University of South Africa SBL)
• 1984 Top Executive in South Africa (Management)
• 1978 Top Five Businessmen (Business Times)
• 1977 Marketing Man of the Year

Degrees

• 2004 Master of Philosophy Rand Afrikaans University
  Rand Afrikaans University
  The Rand Afrikaans University ' was a prominent South African institution of higher education and research that served the greater Johannesburg area and surrounds in from 1967 to 2004...
  
   Business Management cum laude
• 2001 Master of Business Administration University of Wales
  University of Wales
  The University of Wales was a confederal university founded in 1893. It had accredited institutions throughout Wales, and formerly accredited courses in Britain and abroad, with over 100,000 students, but in October 2011, after a number of scandals, it withdrew all accreditation, and it was...
  
  

Honorary degrees

• Doctor of Engineering University of the Witwatersrand
  University of the Witwatersrand
  The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...
  
  
• Technical Doctorate Technikon Witwatersrand
  Technikon Witwatersrand
  The Technikon Witwatersrand was a technikon located in Johannesburg, South Africa. On 1 January 2005, it merged with Rand Afrikaans University and some campuses of Vista University to form the University of Johannesburg, and is now one of many campuses of the new university.-Origins:Technikon...
  
  
• Doctor of Commerce University of the Free State
  University of the Free State
  The University of the Free State is situated in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State, South Africa. The university also has a satellite campus in Qwaqwa that was, until 2003, part of the University of the North.-Academic Divisions:...
  
  
• Doctor of Commerce University of Pretoria
  University of Pretoria
  The University of Pretoria is a multi campus public research university located in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa...
  
  
• Doctor of Commerce University of Port Elizabeth
• Doctor of Science (Engineering) University of Natal
  University of Natal
  The University of Natal was a university in Natal, and later KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, that is now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It was founded in 1910 as the Natal University College in Pietermaritzburg, and expanded to include a campus in Durban in 1931. In 1947, the university...
  
  , Durban

Personal life

He has four sons and a daughter. His two sons, Robert and Craig, were from his first marriage to Jean Georgina Poole. In 1994, Edith, Venter's second wife and mother of two of his sons, was awarded a record R12-million divorce settlement http://www.unisa.ac.za/Default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=18454. She was married for the third time in 2005 to Johannesburg businessman Garth Carstens.

• Robert Eben "Robbie" Venter, born 7 May 1960, is chairman of Aberdare Cables and Director of Bytes Technology Group Ltd., Allied Technologies Ltd (Altech)., and Group Chief Executive of Allied Electronics Corp Ltd (Altron). He studied at University of California Los Angeles and obtained degrees in Bachelor of Science (Economics) and Master of Business Administration.

• Craig Gordon Venter, born 4 July 1962, is Executive Director of Altron, Chief Executive Officer of Altech, Director of Altech Netstar, Altech Autopage Cellular and various other wholly owned subsidiaries, Chairman of Altech Autopage Holdings and Arrow Altech Holdings, Altech Alcom Matomo, Altech UEC Multi-Media and Altech NamITech and a Member of the Altron Executive Committee and Risk Management Committee. He studied at University of California Los Angeles and obtained a BSc (Econ), a BA (Psychology) and an MBA and MSc (Management Science) from University of Southern California
  University of Southern California
  The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
  
  .