Lessons From Billionaires
YOU South Africa|23 April 2020
Ever wondered why some people succeed and others don’t? Why some lives are more remarkable than others? After studying entrepreneurs for decades, financial commentator Bruce Whitfield has concluded it’s mainly down to mindset, and it might also help if you’re a little mad
Lessons From Billionaires

There’s a 47-minute video I once shot on my phone. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched it. It was an interview I did with retail magnate Christo Wiese in 2017 as his world was collapsing around him. He’d not yet come to the final realization that Markus Jooste, his trusted lieutenant, would soon stop returning his calls and issue his mea culpa apologising for “mistakes”, accepting responsibility for Steinhoff ’s imminent collapse.

Less than a week after our conversation, most of Wiese’s fortune had evaporated. Auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC ) would later uncover the details of R105 billion in corporate fraud – the biggest in South Africa’s history.

Looking at Wiese and his responses to my questions about the multinational retailer he and Jooste were then building, I can see no obvious signs of distress. Either he was a consummate poker player or he had no idea about the catastrophe that was about to befall his empire.

What was it in Wiese’s personality that allowed him to mastermind his stellar rise? He’d become one of the most extraordinary entrepreneurs the country has seen in the past half-century. And was there anything in his character that contributed to his losing most of his fortune in a matter of a week when Steinhoff, once the sixth most valuable company on the JSE, went into freefall, hemorrhaging billions?

“To be an entrepreneur you have to be quite mad,” Christo told me, without a hint of irony. “There’s so much in the world that’s beyond your control. If your personality is such that you focus on all those things that can go wrong, you’ll never get started.”

Esta historia es de la edición 23 April 2020 de YOU South Africa.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición 23 April 2020 de YOU South Africa.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE YOU SOUTH AFRICAVer todo
BALLON IN THE BAG
YOU South Africa

BALLON IN THE BAG

Manchester City midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante says his Ballon d'Or win is a victory for Spanish football

time-read
4 minutos  |
14 November 2024
IT WAS ALL A LIE
YOU South Africa

IT WAS ALL A LIE

A new doccie exposes the Grey's Anatomy writer who fabricated her life story

time-read
5 minutos  |
14 November 2024
'I WILL NEVER GIVE UP'
YOU South Africa

'I WILL NEVER GIVE UP'

After her husband, anticorruption activist Alexei Navalny, was poisoned and murdered by the Kremlin, she became the public face of Russia's opposition. In this candid interview Yulia Navalnaya opens up about life on the run, her perilous family life and why she's continuing her husband's fight to save their country

time-read
10+ minutos  |
14 November 2024
AGREE TO DISAGREE
YOU South Africa

AGREE TO DISAGREE

Trevor Noah on how his childhood squabbles with his mother inspired his delightful new book

time-read
4 minutos  |
14 November 2024
PAUSE THE CLOCK
YOU South Africa

PAUSE THE CLOCK

Researchers have discovered that the ageing process spikes at 44 and 60. Here's what you can do to slow it down

time-read
5 minutos  |
14 November 2024
MPOOMY ON TOP
YOU South Africa

MPOOMY ON TOP

We chat to SA's most popular female podcaster about love, loss and her booming success

time-read
4 minutos  |
14 November 2024
MY BROTHER IS NOT TO BLAME
YOU South Africa

MY BROTHER IS NOT TO BLAME

Tinus Drotské says his sibling, ex Bok Nǎka, is the victim in the brawl with a neighbour that landed up in court

time-read
4 minutos  |
14 November 2024
MATT THE RECLUSE
YOU South Africa

MATT THE RECLUSE

A year after his friend's tragic death, the actor continues to shun the spotlight

time-read
4 minutos  |
14 November 2024
A LEAP OF FAITH
YOU South Africa

A LEAP OF FAITH

After her husband tried to kill her by tampering with her parachute she thought she'd never trust a man again-but now she's found love

time-read
5 minutos  |
14 November 2024
THEY'RE MY KIDS!
YOU South Africa

THEY'RE MY KIDS!

This West Coast woman treats her monkeys as iftheyre humans and animal activists are not happy about it

time-read
4 minutos  |
14 November 2024