19/07/2014
The YJBF is honoured to present our next guest speaker: Donald (Dave) Novick.
The former chairman of Comair is a first generation South African born in 1938 to Lithuanian immigrants. He attended Athlone boys High School until his graduation and enrolment at The University of the Witwatersrand where Mr Novick supported himself through his accounting degree. He went on to graduate as a CA and complete articles at Tughies and Swirsky.
Mr Novick joined Comair in 1961 as a company secretary and accountant. He was promoted through the ranks to general manager in 1966 and managing director in 1971. His extensive knowledge of the business helped him and his fellow executive, Martin Moritz, negotiate a management buyout of Comair’s Aviation assets in 1978.
Under his leadership, Comair has grown from a low density carrier to an aviation giant. In 1992 Comair acquired the BA franchise which was followed shortly by their listing as a public company in 1994. Comair was also responsible for the creation of Africa’s first low-cost carrier – Kulula – in 2001. Mr Novick was both joint CEO and co—founder of Kulula until his retirement in 2012. Today, Comair has a market capital of approximately R2 billion, and employs over 2000 staff. At Comair, Mr Novick surrounded himself with business mavericks such Atul Gupta, Meyer Khan (SAB) and Rodney Sacks (founder of Monster Energy Drinks). The likes of these gentleman still serve the company today.
Mr Novicks other interests included Comair Sales – the exclusive provider of Cessna Planes. Mr Novicks enterprise successfully accumulated a 60% market share of the corporate and private jet market in South Africa.
With over half a century of experience in big business, grounded in multi-million dollar transactions and extraordinary competition, this self-made entrepreneur will undoubtedly be a memorable and informative guest. We look forward to welcoming him and drawing from his vast wealth of knowledge.
