Martin Kingston

Martin Lawrence Kingston (born 1957) is an English investment banker who is currently the executive chairman of Rothschild & Co.'s South African operations. He formerly served as the head of Deutsche Bank in South Africa.

Early life and education

Kingston has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Durham University and is a qualified chartered accountant.[1] He was born in 1957 in England.[2][3]

Banking career

Kingston formerly worked for Morgan, Grenfell & Co. and then for its parent, Deutsche Bank.[4] He moved to South Africa in 1995[5] and became executive chairman of Deutsche Bank's South African operation in 2003.[4]

At Deutsche, he was reputed for his role in major and innovative ownership transactions conducted in line with South Africa's post-apartheid black economic empowerment (BEE) policy; in 2006, the South African Mail & Guardian nicknamed him "Mr BEE".[3][6] He advised Transnet on the sale of its stake in the V&A Waterfront and MTN on its acquisition of Investcom, and he was involved in major BEE deals at Lafarge,[7] Kumba, Old Mutual,[8] and Deutsche Bank itself.[3] The Deutsche deal, led by Kingston and primarily financed by Deutsche, was notable for marking the first BEE deal by an international investment bank;[9][10] in the deal, politician Dali Mpofu's company, Uthajiri Investments Holdings, acquired a 15 per cent stake in Deutsche Bank's South African operations, and the bank's black staff acquired a further 10 per cent.[11]

In June 2006, Kingston that he would depart Deutsche Bank.[12] It was rumoured, and Kingston later confirmed, that he left because the bank wanted to transfer him back to its headquarters in London;[12] as he put it, "I felt there was an ongoing contribution I could make in South Africa".[3]

In October 2006, Rothschild & Co. announced that Kingston would be appointed as executive deputy chairman of Rothschild's relatively nascent South African operation.[13][14] In the gap before he took up the new position in early 2007, he founded and ran an advisory firm called Longcross Capital.[3] He ultimately became Rothschild's longstanding chief executive officer in South Africa.[15] He was named South Africa's DealMaker of the Year in 2018.[16]

On 1 April 2019, Kingston left his position as Rothschild SA executive officer in order to become the company's executive chairman; in that capacity, he worked alongside Trevor Manuel, who became the company's non-executive chairman at the same time.[15] Kingston told press that he would "wind down" his executive career in "the medium-term", hoping to spend more time on public service in South Africa;[17] he expressed particular interest in the governance of the South African state-owned entities.[18][19]

Public service and public–private partnership

South African Public Service Minister Malusi Gigaba appointed Kingston as a non-executive director of the national airline, South African Airways, in October 2017.[20] Kingston was put in charge of the airline's long-term turnaround strategy, to the consternation of some unions.[21] He resigned from the board in January 2020,[22] telling press that there was no need for his services because the airline was in business rescue.[23][24]

Kingston was a central figure in public–private partnerships during the Covid-19 pandemic, leading the Daily Maverick to name him runner-up in its Business Person of the Year 2020 awards.[25] He was the founder and head of the steering committee of Business for South Africa (B4SA), which, among other things, raised funds for the pandemic response and developed an economic recovery strategy for the national economy.[25][26] Kingston was personally part of the team that ran the Solidarity Fund.[27] In 2023, after the pandemic had subsided, B4SA and the Presidency of South Africa co-launched the Resource Mobilisation Fund, chaired by Kingston, which raised private funds to procure the resources needed to address the South African energy crisis.[28]

Kingston has also served as deputy president of major trade association Business Unity South Africa.[29]

Personal life

Kingston has divorced twice. In 1978, he married Tembi Tambo, the daughter of stalwart anti-apartheid activists Oliver Tambo and Adelaide Tambo; they met and married in the United Kingdom, where Tambo was a student.[30] They had four children before their divorce in 1992.[5] In 1999, he married Pulane Tshabalala, the daughter of another South African political family, headed by her mother Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and stepfather Mendi Msimang.[5] Tito Mboweni, whom Kingston had known since the 1980s in England, was his best man at the wedding.[3]

In 2024, after both of Pulane's parents had died, IOL reported that Kingston was engaged in a court battle with Pulane's brother, Fabian Msimang, over occupation of the Msimang family's home in Waterkloof Ridge, which Kingston co-owned.[31]

References

  1. ↑ "Martin Kingston, Partner". Rothschild & Co. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  2. ↑ Lapper, Richard (13 November 2009). "Executive view: Martin Kingston of Rothschild on the buzz and green spaces of Johannesburg". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Mister BEE". The Mail & Guardian. 20 November 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Kingston to leave Deutsche Bank". Business Day. 23 June 2006. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 "Marrying into the party". Sunday Times. 14 June 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2026 – via PressReader.
  6. ↑ Freund, Bill (1 December 2007). "South Africa: The End of Apartheid & the Emergence of the 'BEE Elite'". Review of African Political Economy. 34: 661. doi:10.1080/03056240701819533. ISSN 0305-6244.
  7. ↑ "Kingston has his eye on new deals". Sunday Times. 30 July 2006. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
  8. ↑ "Maree, governance on trial". The Mail & Guardian. 9 June 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  9. ↑ "Moonlighting Mpofu". The Mail & Guardian. 26 July 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  10. ↑ "Advocate steps into BEE arena". The Mail & Guardian. 15 February 2005. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  11. ↑ "BEE group buys 25% of Deutsche Bank". IOL. 4 February 2005. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  12. 1 2 Jekwa, Sizwekazi (18 October 2006). "New chief for SA Deutsche Bank". News24. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  13. ↑ "Rothschild appoints Martin Kingston". IOL. 31 October 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  14. ↑ Rothnie, David; Mawson, James (30 October 2006). "Rothschild hires former Deutsche South Africa head". Financial News. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  15. 1 2 "Rothschild & Co. shakes up SA management team". News24. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  16. ↑ "The DealMakers of 2018". DealMakers : South Africa's Corporate Finance Magazine. 19 (4): 50–53. 2018. doi:10.10520/EJC-146cf5be5b.
  17. ↑ "Rothschild & Co. South Africa Says Kingston to Be Chairman". Bloomberg. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  18. ↑ Squazzin, Antony (25 March 2019). "Rothschild's Kingston Eyes Part in Saving South African State Firms". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  19. ↑ Sguazzin, Antony (25 March 2019). "Rothschild's Kingston eyes role in state-owned enterprises". News24. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  20. ↑ "Gigaba confirms Dudu Myeni axing, announces new board". The Mail & Guardian. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  21. ↑ "SAA set for showdown with labour". The Mail & Guardian. 4 October 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  22. ↑ Stone, Setumo (17 January 2020). "Martin Kingston quits SAA board". News24. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  23. ↑ "Martin Kingston resigns from SAA board". News24. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  24. ↑ "South African Airways Director Kingston Quits Amid Cash Crunch". Bloomberg. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  25. 1 2 Maverick, Daily (4 January 2021). "Business Person of the Year 2020: Runner-up - Martin Kingston". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  26. ↑ Kingston, Martin (1 August 2020). "B4SA's plan to improve South Africa's economic future". MoneyMarketing. 2020 (8): 8–8. doi:10.10520/ejc-nm_monm-v2020-n8-a8.
  27. ↑ Planting, Sasha (31 March 2020). "Solidarity Fund: Stronger Together". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  28. ↑ Paton, Carol (9 March 2023). "Business launches R100m fund to support technical work on energy crisis". News24. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  29. ↑ Haffajee, Ferial (30 March 2020). "South Africa 'headed into a deep structural depression' – Busa". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  30. ↑ "Martin Kingston: the man leading business's response to Covid-19". Sunday Times. 13 June 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  31. ↑ Sidimba, Loyiso (14 April 2024). "Eviction from posh Tshwane home looms for ANC stalwart Mendi Msimang's family". IOL. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
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