Self-made tycoon of passion and extravagance

Insurance magnate Douw Steyn might shy away from the spotlight, but his propensity for grandiosity means he can't help but find his way onto centre stage.

Steyn is a self-made multi-billionaire, and the dinner party talk and tales of his passion and extravagance reflect a flamboyance that most South African executives couldn't hope to replicate.

The 60-year-old Steyn made his fortune after he founded Auto & General in 1985. In the mid-1980s, he built the Saxon as his own "dream home" amid fury from his new neighbours.

After being released from prison in 1990, Nelson Mandela lived at the Saxon for six months while he wrote his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. In 1992, Steyn moved to Britain to launch Budget insurance group.

The Saxon was converted into a 26-suite ultra luxury boutique hotel, with entry-level rooms going for R8100 a night and the ultra-plush suites going for R34000 a night.

Though based in London, Steyn continues to invest heavily in South Africa and still owns the Telesure Group - the holding company for Auto & General, Dial Direct and other insurance companies. He also owns the 10100ha Shambala game reserve near the Waterberg region. Though he still uses the Saxon as a home base when back in the country, that might change once Palazzo Steyn is complete.

Despite eschewing the spotlight, his romantic tussles have ensured he remained in the headlines.

Though he recently remarried Carolyn Steyn, he was at the centre of a messy dispute in 2006 when former fiancée Donne Botha attacked his former girlfriend, beautician Bianca Ferrante, with a champagne bottle after finding them in bed together at the Saxon. At the time, Steyn said that a lawyer had tried to extort R3-million to make the case go away, and was quoted as saying "if justice doesn't work in this case, something will have to be done with the legal system, and I will make it my mission to either remedy it or take it over - I have more money than the president".

Steyn is also reported to be a big donor of the ANC, and ran an open house for the ANC to hold meetings with the former National Party government during the talks that led to democracy in the early 1990s.

Though Steyn's South African insurance assets like Auto & General are doing well, it is his 1992 launch of the Budget group in the UK that really bolstered his fortune. The company, now known as BGL, is one of the UK's largest insurance companies with 4.6 million customers.

The UK Sunday Times rich list, released last month, ranked Steyn as the 158th richest person in that country, with a fortune of R8-billion.

British newspapers claimed that Steyn made a quick £220-million thanks to an advertising campaign for his insurance comparison website - Compare the Market - which featured Aleksander the meerkat.

The soaring success of BGL and Aleksander enabled Steyn to splash out on a £63-million (R830-million) mansion on Belgrave Square, one of the most expensive parts of London.

Steyn stepped down as BGL nonexecutive chairman in February, and is said to divide his time between London and South Africa.