John Jack takes over as new CEO at Knight Frank South Africa
Global real estate consultancy Knight Frank has appointed John Jack as its new Chief Executive Officer, who will operate out of the firm’s office in Gauteng Johannesburg. Jack replaces joint CEOs Tony Galetti and Francois Staples, who will continue to advise the board in a non-executive capacity.
Property consultant John Jack joined Knight Frank in 2010 as a Director in the Gauteng office, with hopes that he would help incumbent CEO Tony Galetti to establish a strong and secure presence for the firm in the highly competitive market, with a specific focus on building credibility.
During his time at the real estate consulting firm, Jack has worked with a number of private sector clients in the specific domain of restructuring & portfolio rationalisation, in addition to a range of collaborative projects with developers, primarily with the objective of ensuring the completion of tenant-driven projects.
His extensive experience has built up his client portfolio to include high-profile names such as South African Breweries, IBM, Alstom, Porsche, Robert Walters, and a number of others in the domains of industrial leases, sales, and general proposal design. His contributions have now earned him the position of CEO in place of Galetti and Francois Staples, who will take on the roles of Non-Executive Directors on the board of Knight Frank South Africa.
Jack has an academic background in investment and financing from Stellenbosch University, and previous professional experience as a Commercial & Industry Broker at the Broll Property Group in Cape Town, where he worked for four years before leaving to join Knight Frank.
Commenting on the appointment, Galetti said, “With more than 12 years’ experience in the commercial property sector, John was the natural choice of succession plan for the business. Having gained extensive experience in the industrial and institutional markets, he was instrumental in securing one of the largest brokered commercial sales in South Africa at R1,744bn, as well as growing the Gauteng office tenfold over the past 5 years.”
He added, “John’s development experience is often called upon in the company. His property knowledge is extensive, having consulted to clients including The Sandvik Mining, Otis, Nampak and the African Development Bank on development proposals and existing office and industrial leases and sales. We welcome him on board as our new CEO, and look forward to an exciting new chapter at Knight Frank South Africa.”
Jack joins the ranks of South African CEOs who are navigating challenging economic and political conditions for the country going forward, and begins his reign at a time of mixed sentiments.
