Board of Directors
Christian Unger - Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Unger joined Tradus as Chief Executive Officer on 30 April 2007 from KarstadtQuelle, AG, Europe's largest department store and mail order group, where he ran the international mail order division with sales of €810 million in 2006. Mr. Unger managed operations in over twelve countries, primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, and successfully drove the growth of its online sales business. Prior to his role at Quelle, he held several senior management positions at Bertelsmann AG, most recently as CEO of Bertelsmann China and before that as a Board member of Bertelsmann France. Mr. Unger holds an MA in Philosophy and Art from the University of Munich and Masters of Business Administration from the European Business School in Schloss Reichartshausen, Germany.
Helmut Bernhardt - Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Bernhardt currently serves as Chief Financial Officer for Tradus, having joined the company in January 2008 from eBay Germany, where he served as Chief Financial Officer since 2003. In this role, he was responsible for all finance and legal functions. Previously he also managed the Corporate Development activities of eBay Germany. Prior to eBay, Mr. Bernhardt spent 19 years in various finance and general management roles at Hewlett Packard, both in Europe and the United States. He holds a degree in business and engineering from the University of Darmstadt.
Arjan Bakker - Chief Executive Officer, Central and Eastern Europe
Mr Bakker joined the board in March 2008 as Chief Executive Officer, Central and Eastern Europe, for Tradus. He joined Tradus when Allegro.pl, the business that he founded in 1999 and is the largest within Tradus, was acquired in 2000. Since then he has led the successful expansion into Central and Eastern Europe and continues to oversee the Group's CEE operations.
Andre Coetzee - Director
Dr. Coetzee joined the board in March 2008, he has been a legal advisor to the MIH Group and associated companies since 1985. Before joining the Naspers group, Dr. Coetzee was a partner at Mallinicks Attorneys from 1984 to 1999. In June 1999 he became the MIH Group's general counsel.
Hein Pretorius - Director
Mr. Pretorius joined the board in March 2008, he is based in the Netherlands and is currently responsible for MIH Internet Division's M&A functions in a strategic business development role as well as for the strategic and operational development of all completed investments in the greater Europe region.
Mr. Pretorius started his career as a management consultant and in 1994 joined the Dimension Data Group, a global network integration company, responsible for setting up the Consulting practice. Prior to joining Naspers at the end of 2000, he worked at the Oracle Group in South Africa as Head of the E-Business. Mr. Pretorius started his career in Naspers as the CEO of Kalahari.net, the largest e-commerce platform in Africa, and then became CEO of N-Direct. In 2004 he relocated to Shanghai with his move to new business development for the Internet Group in China. Mr. Pretorius also serves on the boards of Nimbuzz B.V. and Gadu-Gadu S.A.
Mark Sorour - Director
Mr. Sorour joined the board as a director in March 2008, he is a qualified Chartered Accountant who previously held various positions in the audit and corporate finance divisions of PricewaterhouseCoopers. After qualifying he spent 5 years as an investment banker. In 1994 he joined MIH Group, the international division of the Naspers group, where he headed up business development throughout Africa, the Middle East, Thailand, China, Europe, USA and Asia. This included being relocated to Hong Kong and the Netherlands as corporate finance and acquisitions general manager. With the restructure of the Naspers group in 2002, Mr. Sorour returned with his family to Cape Town as Chief Investment Officer, heading up the corporate finance and M&A function for the Naspers and MIH groups.
Charles St Leger Searle - Director
Mr. Searle was appointed a director in March 2008, he is currently the Chief Investment Officer for the MIH Internet Division, based in Hong Kong. Prior to joining the MIH Group, a division of Naspers, he held various corporate finance positions at Cable & Wireless plc and Hong Kong Telecom. Prior to joining Cable & Wireless plc, he was a senior corporate finance manager at Deloitte & Touche in London and Sydney.
Currently, Mr. Searle serves on the boards of directors of a number of companies that are subsidiaries or associated companies of MIH, including Mail.ru and Tencent Holdings Limited. Mr. Searle graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1987 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (1992).
Steve Ward - Director
Mr. Ward joined the board as a director in March 2008, he currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of MIH Holdings and joined the Naspers Group in 2000. Prior to this, Mr. Ward was a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers for 13 years, where he advised multinational companies. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and is a Dutch Registered Accountant. Mr. Ward is chief financial officer of MIH Holdings and a director of MIH BV and several other group companies, and serves as an alternate director for SuperSport and M-Net.