The South African billionaire who started selling cigarettes at his father’s business and then built a global healthcare empire

Adrian Gore is the billionaire co-founder and chief executive of Discovery, a global healthcare and financial giant headquartered in Sandton, Gauteng.

Ironically, his first job was helping his dad sell and deliver cigarettes, a habit that is heavily penalised under Discovery’s Vitality model.

Gore was born on 16 May 1964. His parents, Mendy Gore and Ann Segal, instilled a strong belief in the importance of education.

He matriculated from King David School in 1981 and obtained BSc and BSc (Hons) degrees in Actuarial Science from the University of the Witwatersrand.

Gore explained in an interview with Forbes Africa that his first job was selling cigarettes with his father before moving into the insurance industry. 

He spent much of his childhood working in his father’s small tobacconist wholesale business. The company acted as a middleman, supplying cigarettes and sweets to local corner shops and cafés.

According to Forbes Africa, Gore recalled packing cigarette cartons into customer orders and delivering them to shopkeepers.

He handled thousands of packs, which meant he memorised many of the popular brands of the time, including Lexington and Rothmans.

Despite the fond memories, he watched his father’s business come under pressure as major tobacco companies increasingly supplied retailers directly, squeezing out wholesalers.

It was an early lesson that industries evolve, business models change, and companies that fail to adapt eventually struggle. After graduating from Wits, Gore joined Liberty Life as a trainee actuary.

After a short stint in the insurance industry, in 1992, at the age of 27, Gore partnered with Barry Swartzberg to establish Discovery.

Their vision was different from that of traditional insurers. Rather than paying claims when customers became ill, they wanted to create a business that rewarded people for improving their health.

The concept attracted the backing of Laurie Dippenaar at Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), which invested in the business and helped launch what would become one of South Africa’s biggest companies.

The model that made Discovery

Gore, an actuary by training, developed what Discovery calls its Shared-value Insurance model through the Vitality programme.

Instead of only assessing risk based on factors such as age and medical history, the system encourages members to adopt healthier habits through financial incentives.

Members can earn rewards for exercising regularly, eating healthier foods and completing health assessments.

Healthier lifestyles generally lead to fewer insurance claims, allowing Discovery to reinvest part of those savings into benefits such as discounted gym memberships, grocery cashback and travel rewards.

The irony is that smoking remains one of the behaviours most heavily discouraged under the model.

While smokers traditionally pay higher insurance premiums because they present greater health risks, Discovery’s Vitality programme adds further incentives for remaining smoke-free.

Members who declare themselves non-smokers and verify this through annual health checks can earn Vitality points and qualify for higher status levels within the programme.

Higher status unlocks increasingly valuable rewards. Smokers miss out on these additional points.

More than 30 years after its launch, Discovery now operates across health insurance, life insurance, banking, investments and short-term insurance, while its Vitality model has been licensed internationally.

Under Gore’s leadership, Discovery’s Shared-value Insurance model now operates in 28 countries and serves more than 20 million members.

Executive director Barry Swartzberg recently said the company remains committed to its original vision.

“The foundations built over more than three decades position us for the next era of innovation, growth and global impact,” he said.

Discovery is valued at around R180 billion on the JSE, making it one of Africa’s largest listed financial services companies. According to Forbes, Gore has an estimated net worth of $480 million (about R7.8 billion).

Apart from running one of South Africa’s most successful financial institutions, Gore is an accomplished distance runner.

At 61, he completed the 2026 Boston Marathon in 3:31:16. He has also written a book, The Four Principles, which was published in July 2026.

“I wrote the book because I became obsessed with the question of impact and the question of why some people create extraordinary impact,” Gore said.

He argued that success depends less on talent alone than on how effectively people turn potential into action.

“The principles in the book will enable people to unlock exponential impact in their personal and professional lives,” he said.

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Photos of Adrian Gore

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Inside Discovery headquarters in Sandton

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