Jewish Life Digital Edition January 2014 | Page 32

BUSINESS BRAINS

PORTRAITS IN SUCCESS

BARRY
SWARTZBERG
DRIVEN BY A FEELING
DISCOVERY IS A STRONG PRODUCT-DRIVEN ORGANISAtion. It is innovative, and it is world-class. In a
short space of time, it has turned the idea of
health insurance, once the grey drab topic of a
moustachioed insurance salesman, into a
mighty brand that’s cool blue, and energised
turning even hipsters into runners. Discovery’s innovation in developing new products,
in creating new companies, and advancing its
intellectual property for export overseas, is
driven by Barry Swartzberg, group executive
director and co-founder of the health insurance’s sexy icon.
Barry Swartzberg. Who would have
thought, but I met him on our morning runs
up Bompas Road. The quiet lad, his head
down, no utterances, absorbed in the given
task, driven in his quest.
Like all good lads, he grew up in Krugersdorp, leaving a small town for the ocean-settled city of Cape Town, to study business science and computer studies at UCT. He was a
fortunate one, for his parents could fund him.
Swartzberg’s tutor, Colin Jones, who, early
on, was to push Swartzberg in all the right directions, urged him to pursue mathematics
and suggested he study actuarial science. At
the time, Jones was being funded by Liberty
Life, and so egged Swartzberg on to request a
bursary. With funding and a new direction, he
went on and studied actuarial science at Wits.
While in the hallowed linoleum floored hallways of Senate House, he befriended one Sol
Swartz, and it was through Swartz that
Swartzberg met Adrian Gore.
Vacations weren’t for the beach; for Swartzberg, they were spent at Liberty, learning the
working innards of risk and insurance.
It wasn’t Swartzberg’s dream to be an actuary, but the path sought him. His real desire
was for computer studies, for coding, for programming, and it still is today. However, once
the claws of actuarial science grabbed at him,
he realised it had lots of characteristics that
spoke to his skill set.

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In the early 80s, an actuary’s workload was
vast and voluminous. However, there were
but a few skilled in such a set, and so Swartzberg was gifted with responsibility. The learning curve was aggressive and he thrived.
Jones, playing yet another role in Swartzberg’s epic tale, avoiding conscription, left his
position at Liberty and his home for foreign
shores. This opened up an opportunity for
Swartzberg in research & development. Like a
kid to Barney, Swartzberg was fixated. Under
the guiding wing of Lionel Goldblatt, Swartzberg grew further and the division did too,
and it was time a new actuary was needed. It
was 1986, Swartzberg buzzed Gore and the
golden era began.
Liberty was advanced for creating an environment of expansive thought and innovative
product development. And under this condition, and with Herschel Mayers, Swartzberg
was part of a team that developed a medical
lifestyle product which, when launched, was
hugely successful.
Swartzberg Y