Christo Wiese

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Christoffel H. Wiese
Born (1941-09-10) 10 September 1941 (age 79)
Upington, South Africa
NationalitySouth African
EducationPaarl Boys' High School
Alma materUniversity of Stellenbosch
OccupationChairman and 44% owner, Pepkor
ChildrenJacob Wiese, and two daughters

Christoffel F. Hendrik Wiese[4] (born 10 September 1941) is a South African businessman and former billionaire.[5] His source of wealth is consumer retail.[6]

Early life[]

Wiese studied at Paarl Boys' High School in the Western Cape region of South Africa.[7] Wiese attended Stellenbosch University, from where he received BA and LLB degrees.[2]

Career[]

After university, Wiese practised law at the Cape Bar for some years before working as a Director at Pepkor, the discount clothing chain that his parents helped to found.[8]

Under his leadership, Shoprite started out as a chain of eight supermarkets in Cape Town that was purchased for 1 million rand (equivalent to $122,000 USD) which grew into a multibillion-dollar business due to various acquisitions and expansion strategies made in the first 30 years of operations. After playing a role in helping Shoprite acquire distributor Senta, Wiese started expanding his business into franchising new locations for Shoprite department stores.[9] He also purchased the struggling OK Bazaars from South African Breweries for one rand in 1997; inserting 157 supermarkets and 146 furniture stores to the company and adding jobs to the area.[9] In 2011, Wiese's Shoprite stores were considered to be the sixth overall favourite brand, with a third-most valued brand in terms of community upliftment in South Africa.[9] In addition to Shoprite, Wiese owns more than 1,200 corporate outlets under various names.[10] Shares of Shoprite rose by 50% on the South African stock market from March 2011 to March 2012, with Wiese making a $1.5 billion profit.[6]

Wiese had a net worth of US$6.8 billion,[11] but as of December 2017 is reported to be worth only $742 million.[12] He is the executive director of South African retail giant Shoprite (JSE: SHP).[6] Wiese has been chairman of Invicta Holdings Limited since 2006. Wiese formerly was the 11th-most successful businessman in his chosen fields of industry (accounting, banking, finance, consumer goods, fashion, and retail) and previously was the 69th-most successful person in South African history.[13]

Wiese owns a 44% share of Pepkor since becoming the chairman there in 1981 and starting out as an executive director for the retail store Pep from 1967 to 1973.[13] Pepkor is a discount store in South Africa that was founded in 1965.[14] Wiese owns various properties including a private game reserve in the Kalahari Desert and the prestigious wine producer, the .[6] The awarded with the title of Business Leader of the Year while the awarded him with the prestigious Pioneer of the 20th Century Award.[13]

In April 2015, it was reported that Virgin Group and their private equity backers had sold 80% of Virgin Active to the South African investment firm Brait, owned by Wiese. The sale price will be £682 million for an 80% stake, valuing the business at £1.3 billion, including debt, and the transaction should be completed in summer 2015, and the company will continue to operate under the Virgin Active brand.[15]

Wiese was formerly chairman and largest shareholder (about 20% following the sale of his company Pepkor to Steinhoff in 2014) of Steinhoff International, a German-listed furniture conglomerate holding company, and resigned in 2017 in the wake of the Steinhoff accounting scandal. Wiese suffered a huge financial loss when the share price crashed and in March 2019 announced he was making a 4 billion dollar claim against Steinhoff.[16][17][18]

Lanzerac Manor & Winery[]

Wiese bought a South African farm dating back from the 19th century in 1991, and converted it into a five-star hotel, , with 48 rooms.[19] He later sold the property to a foreign investment firm for an undisclosed sum on 7 March 2012.[20]

Financial controversies[]

As of August 2012, it was reported that Wiese owed SARS an estimated R2 billion in back taxes.[21][22]

Wiese faced a legal battle to recover $1 million that he was carrying while boarding a flight from England to Luxembourg in 2009. This amount was confiscated by customs officers as the sum was in hard cash bundled up in rubber bands in his luggage.[23]

Personal life[]

Wiese is married, lives in Cape Town and has three children.[2] His son Jacob Wiese works for Pepkor and is expected to take over from him when he retires.[8]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Sunday Times Rich List". Business Insider. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Christoffel Wiese". Forbes. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  3. ^ "Wiese Loses Bilionaire Status". BusinessTech. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  4. ^ "investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=8364021&ticker=IVT:SJ". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Wiese loses billionaire status as Steinhoff continues massive sell-off". Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Christoffel Wiese career information at Forbes.com
  7. ^ Article about the richest men in South Africa Archived 5 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine at Sabsa.co.za
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Nsehe, Mfonobong (24 July 2012). "Meet South African Billionaire Christo Wiese, Mr. Shoprite". Forbes. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c "History". Shoprite. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 25 April 2008.
  10. ^ "Shoprite Holdings Geographical Spread". Shoprite. Archived from the original on 4 September 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  11. ^ businesstech.co.za
  12. ^ Cheetham, Joshua; Palumbo, Daniele (19 December 2017). "Steinhoff investors decide fate of firm". Retrieved 19 December 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b c Christoffel Wiese Archived 20 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine(Dead link) at Who's Who SA
  14. ^ "Bloomberg Businessweek: Pepkor profile". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  15. ^ Kollewe, Julia (16 April 2015). "Virgin Active stake sold to South Africa's Brait for £682m". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  16. ^ "Steinhoff ex-chair Christo Wiese open to talks over $4bn claim". Business Day.
  17. ^ "Steinhoff chairman Christo Wiese resigns amid accounts scandal". Financial Times.
  18. ^ "South Africa's Steinhoff to Buy Mattress Firm for $3.8 Billion". Fortune. Reuters. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  19. ^ Lanzerac Manor & Winery information at Lanzerac.co.za
  20. ^ Wiese sells Lanzerac to foreigners at Fin24
  21. ^ South Africa’s third wealthiest man owes the taxman $250 million at Mining.com
  22. ^ "Christo Wiese's R2bn tax bill". Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  23. ^ O'Connor, Clare. "This Is What Happens When A Billionaire Tries To Get On A Plane With $1 Million Cash In His Luggage". Forbes. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
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