Two brothers became billionaires by building South Africa’s largest second-hand car empire
Brothers Faan and Dirk van der Walt became billionaires after building one of South Africa’s most successful companies, WeBuyCars, which buys and sells cars.
Faan and Dirk grew up in Bronkorspruit in a working-class family. Their mother was a teacher, and their father worked as a security guard at the CSIR.
Their father taught them how to fix cars at an early age, which gave them the background they needed to start a business in this sector.
While in school, they started buying, fixing, and selling cars as a hobby. This brought in money, which fuelled their entrepreneurial spirit.
“The entrepreneurial spirit grew within me during high school. I recall having that money in my hands and getting a real kick out of doing a successful deal,” Faan said.
Faan studied to become a teacher at the University of Pretoria, and Dirk completed a degree in marketing.
After marrying Tanja in 1998, Faan and his new wife moved to the United Kingdom for two years, where they taught and saved money.
This money came in handy as the initial capital investment, which Faan and Dirk used to establish WeBuyCars in 2001.
Initially, Faan and Dirk did everything at WeBuyCars. This includes buying, selling, and fixing the cars. They also did their own marketing.
The first WeBuyCars billboard next to the N1 highway featured Faan and Dirk van der Walt, holding cash in hand to encourage people to sell their cars to them.
They launched a website and an aggressive advertising strategy, making WeBuyCars a household name in Gauteng.
Since 2010, the company’s growth has started accelerating. WeBuyCars bought land and built a car warehouse in Pretoria East, which can hold around 100 cars.
Their national expansion continued, and in 2014, WeBuyCars appointed its first buyer in Cape Town. After that, they appointed buyers in all the major towns in South Africa.
WeBuyCars opened its Cape Town branch in 2016, and the Durban branch opened soon after, in 2017.
In October 2017, WeBuyCars opened the doors to The Car Supermarket in Midstream, and in January 2018, they opened a second warehouse in Cape Town.
In December 2019, WeBuyCars appointed its 1,000th employee and Faan and Dirk won the Africa Entrepreneur of the Year Award (AABLA).
In December 2021, WeBuyCars opened the doors of the WeBuyCars Dome, its super-showroom capable of accommodating more than 1,000 vehicles.
WeBuyCars lists on the JSE
Last year, WeBuyCars’ largest shareholder, Transaction Capital, unbundled and listed the company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
The company’s shares started trading on 11 April 2024, with WeBuyCars hitting a market capitalisation of R7.82 billion.
Great demand for the shares resulted in the shares’ opening above the pre-listing price of R18.75. The first shares were traded at closer to R20 per share.
Following WeBuyCars’ separate listing, Transaction Capital has disposed of all of its shares in the company and unbundled the company to its shareholders.
However, founders Faan and Dirk van der Walt retained 10% of the company’s shareholding after the listing.
The combination of shares sold and retained means that Faan and Dirk became billionaires and two of the wealthiest people in South Africa.
Despite their wealth, the two brothers still run WeBuyCars and continue to improve the business.
The company’s latest financial results showed that WeBuyCars now have 11,902 parking bays and 17 Supermarkets.
In the six months to 31 March 2025, the group added 10 new buying pods, bringing the group’s national footprint to 93.
It opened the Rustenburg supermarket on 1 October 2024 as planned, with capacity for 300 vehicles.
It is developing a 30,400 square meter Lansdowne supermarket in Cape Town and anticipates trading from this new facility in December 2025.
It is also constructing a 17,450-square-meter Montana supermarket in Pretoria North, which will be able to accommodate 1,300 vehicles for sale.
WeBuyCars CEO Faan van der Walt said they were making good progress toward buying and selling 23,000 vehicles per month by 2028.
He said they will continue to focus on what WeBuyCars does best: simplifying the vehicle buying and selling processes.
WeBuyCars Photos
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I have some EXTREMELY BAD experience from your teams both at Centurion and Silver Lakes. I did NOT pursue legal action as it is to much effort and would cost me lots of money. I sold an old vehicle of mine, a VOLVO S60 and FALSE information was written on the windscreen (Centurion branch) when they tried to sell the vehicle. Kilometer readings were TOTALY incorrect and even on their second attempt at Silver Lakes, YET AGAIN incorrect kilometer readings ADVERTISED!!!! I have a TRACKING UNIT fitted to the vehicle, even to this date and I can VIEW the exact readings. THEY are a bunch of LIARS!!!!!!!! You are welcome to contact me and i will give ALL the relevant information. STAY AWAY from We Buy Cars