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Stephen Saad

Pharmaceutical founder and executive

By South African Index Editorial Desk · Published

Portrait of Stephen Saad.
Photograph: Aspen Pharmacare · Source · Copyright retained by source publication. Resized and converted to WebP for this site.

Stephen Saad is a founding shareholder and group chief executive of Aspen Pharmacare. He and Gus Attridge were two of the four founding members of Aspen Healthcare, which began trading in 1997. [1][2]

Biography

Saad graduated from the University of Natal and qualified as a chartered accountant. Aspen’s company material records that he later co-founded Aspen Healthcare with Gus Attridge and two other founding members in 1997. [2][1]

Aspen began trading from a converted house in Greyville, Durban. The business listed on the JSE in 1998 through a reverse listing into Medhold Limited. [1][3]

In 1999 Aspen acquired South African Druggists for R2.4 billion, joining the young Aspen business to a much older South African pharmaceutical operation. Saad remained group chief executive as the company expanded internationally. [1]

Key contributions

Co-founded Aspen Healthcare in 1997 and continued as group chief executive. [1][2]

Led the company through its early JSE listing and major acquisition of South African Druggists. [3][1]

Career timeline

  1. Co-founded Aspen Healthcare with Gus Attridge and two other founding members. [1][2]

  2. Aspen listed on the JSE through a reverse listing into Medhold. [3]

  3. Aspen acquired South African Druggists for R2.4 billion. [1]

Associated organisations

Sources

  1. Aspen Pharmacare, About Aspen. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩
  2. Aspen Pharmacare, Stephen Saad named as Business Leader of the Year, 2012-11-16. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩
  3. Aspen Pharmacare, Integrated Report 2016, 2016-06-30. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩