An 18-year-old business man from Somerset West has certainly raised the bar as he now runs the world’s only powdered-based oxygen producing company.
Tony McPherson, group CEO of McPherson Holdings, has now embarked on a new challenge in the corporate world. He took over from his late grandfather Ivor Duncan, and is now running EmOx International, a pharmaceutical company that produces emergency oxygen that is activated by mixing two chemicals with water to get 99,98% pure oxygen.
“A few months ago, I was a small sole proprietor and now I am running an international company. I could never have imagined being where I am today,” says McPherson.
The big shift from his bedroom office to the current office he occupies with staff members he has to oversee, happened last September while the young businessman was in matric.
The business-minded young man is currently carrying his grandfather’s legacy through the company. Ivor Duncan, founder and inventor of EmOx International, passed away in September 2017 and McPherson took over the reins a year later. “The difference with running an international company is walking into a meeting and having people ask me whether I am lost or if I am waiting for my dad,” says McPherson.
Of course, the dynamic and talented businessman has already finished one product that can be taken to market, being a lunchbox-sized version of the EmOx Oxygen Unit, which will be implemented in South African mines this year.
To add to his list of accolades, McPherson holds a number of titles. He was awarded the Investec Out of the Ordinary award by Investec Bank, a Forbes 30under30 fellowship, is First National Bank’s youngest private client and, most recently, was publically recognised as the world’s youngest CEO of an international pharmaceutical company by ARAB Health in Dubai.
“When the opportunity to run this corporate giant presented itself, I was humbled. The support from my family and friends is what actually keeps me going,” says McPherson.
Apart from his daily corporate duties, the young entrepreneur and old scholar from Parel Vallei High School is also studying towards an LLB degree. “A law degree is very important in my line of work, even if I am not necessarily planning on practising,” he explains.
