Background
Rael Levitt was born in Bellville Cape Town.
Rael Levitt was born in Bellville Cape Town.
He studied at the United Herzlia Schools and matriculated in 1988. He later obtained an Master of Business Administration from the National University of Singapore and a Global Executive Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles-Anderson School of Management in Los Angeles, United States.A.
He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cape Town in 1993. Business Rael Levitt founded several South African real estate, asset trading and auction companies. Levitt began his career with his first property sale at the age of seventeen and the formation of Levco Property in 1989.
In 1992, he founded his first auction company, Levco Auction Group.
Levitt was responsible for many high profile sales including the assets of Freddie Steenkamp and politician Allan Boesak’s Foundation of Peace and Justice. In 1995, Levitt concluded a sale of Levco to Seeff Holding"s Chairman, Lawrence Seeff, and after acquiring Boland Bank’s auction arm, became the Managing Director of Seeff Auctions.
Levitt was appointed the Vice Chairman of the South African Institute of Auctioneers and in 2011 was inducted into its Hall of Fame. Following the delisting of Seeff Holdings Limited in 1998, Levitt completed a management buyout of the auction business.
He renamed the company and became its Chief Executive Officer based in Cape Town, South Africa.
The company opened in several cities, including Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban, Portuguese Elizabeth, Nelspruit, Upington, Windhoek and Dubai (United Arab Emirates). became South Africa’s largest auction house. Levitt also launched several other subsidiaries and companies related to including: Salesbid, Asset Alliance. Alliance Business Brokers.
Alliance Finance.
And Valuation Alliance. acquired several real estate, auction and valuation companies. Levitt worked to improve the image of the auction industry in South Africa by implementing various approaches including Multiple Auctions and the development of the RAP (Rapid Auction Programme). In 2006 sold a 25.1% stake to Amabubesi Investments and in 2010 a 31% stake to Transaction Capital.
By 2011 "s turnover was over R300 million. with sales of over R6Billion.
In 2012, Levitt stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of after the well publicized Quoin Rock auction debacle where heiress billionaire Wendy Appelbaum accused of using a ghost bidder against her. On 2 April 2011, the National Consumer Commission found that Levitt had transgressed South Africa’s Consumer Protection Acting 68 of 2012 and issued a compliance notice against the company.
This decision was overturned by the National Consumer Tribunal on 11 July 2012. Rael Levitt and organized charity auction events and raised R250 million for various charities including the Nelson Mandela Children’s Trust.
Levitt is a member of the Cape Town Jewish community.