South African media tycoon Koos Bekker is stepping down as CEO of Naspers, the Cape Town-based publishing company he has run since 1997. He says he plans to use the time off to travel to San Francisco and Seoul to scout out new technologies that can benefit the company. He plans to return to the Naspers board sometime in the future. Bekker transformed the storied publisher into a new media powerhouse, with investments in China, India, Russia and elsewhere. That includes stakes in China's Internet and instant messaging leader Tencent Holdings (run by Chinese billionaire Ma Huateng), Russian Internet giant Mail.ru and Brazilian magazine publisher Abril. During his tenure, Bekker has overseen a rise in the market capitalization of Naspers from about $600 million to $45 billion - all the while drawing no salary, bonus, or benefits. He is compensated via stock option grants that vest over time. Bekker was a founding director of African mobile telecom firm MTN. His Babylonstoren estate, nearly 600 acres in South Africa's Western Cape region, features architecture dating back to 1690, a farm, orchard and vineyard, a 14-room hotel and a restaurant.