He counts Nelson Mandela among his close friends. His new London mansion used to belong to mega-rich Wall Street investment banker Bruce Wasserstein, who died in October 2009. Meerkats – not rodents but a member of the ­mongoose family – have also given a shot in the arm to the advertising ­industry ­because other firms have tried to copy the campaign’s success. Mr Steyn, who stepped down as BGL non-executive chairman in February, is said to divide his time between London and South Africa, where he has interests ­including the five star Saxon Hotel in Johannesburg and a game reserve.

Spin-off characters were launched and the meerkats have achieved the feat of taking on a life of their own beyond the commercials that spawned them.Mr Steyn, 59, owes a great deal to chief meerkat Aleksandr Orlov, who talks in a bizarre fake Russian accent. Aleksandr’s catchphrase Simples has become so widespread it was included in the Collins English Dictionary in 2010.

The book tells the story of his ­ancestors’ journey from the Kalahari to Moscow and dwells on his love of cravats.Six more books called Meerkat Tales followed. Like ITV Digital’s Monkey and Levi’s Flat Eric, Aleksandr is an advertising icon who has been made into a cuddly toy.