South African billionaire who nearly lost it all – and then rebuilt his wealth

Christo Wiese’s business prowess made him one of the richest men in the world, but after an accounting scandal at Steinhoff, he was forced to rebuild his wealth and reclaim his billionaire title. 

According to Forbes, Wiese has a net worth of $1.3B (R23.6 billion), making him one of the five richest men in South Africa. 

He is the visionary behind the success of Shoprite. However, he has also been helped by the entrepreneurial spirit of his family.

Christoffel Hendrik Wiese was born on 10 September 1941 in Upington, South Africa, where his father owned a sheep and cattle farm and a garage.

He attended Paarl Boys’ High School in the Western Cape and then attended the University of Cape Town (UCT).

His academic performance at UCT was not successful. He left without completing his course and started a radiator repair business in Upington.

Later, he resumed his studies at Stellenbosch University. In 1965, while Wiese was still studying, his parents co-founded Pep Stores and were its second-largest shareholders. 

After graduating with a BA and LLB degree, he returned to the family business for a while, handling administrative duties and driving around the country with the major shareholder, looking for locations to open new shops.

In 1974, Wiese practised law at the Cape Bar for a few years before becoming an executive director at Pepkor.

By 1979, Pep Stores made its foray into the food retailing business by acquiring Shoprite, a small chain of retail outlets spread across South Africa. “We bought Shoprite for R1 million. Today, it’s worth R100 billion,” Wiese said. 

He grew Shoprite from eight supermarkets in Cape Town to a multibillion-dollar business spread across Africa. Numerous acquisitions helped it to achieve rapid growth.

Wiese assumed the position of chairman in 1981, where he owned a 44% share of the company. He made some big business moves in this role, including acquiring the clothing chain Ackermans in 1986. 

He then listed the company’s clothing interests on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) as PEP Limited, and its food interests as Shoprite Holdings Limited.

In 1991, the company acquired the retail chains, Smart Group Holdings, Cashbuild, Checkers and Stuttafords. Throughout the 1990s, the group continued its expansion across Africa and beyond. 

“Pep started as one shop in Upington, then grew shop by shop by shop,” he said. 

In the 1990s, he successfully acquired Boland Bank, outmanoeuvring Absa. Through a series of strategic mergers, he gained control of the bank and transformed it from a specialist boutique into a fully-fledged banking group.

Wiese also built a portfolio of small-cap investments, which helped solidify his risk-taker reputation.

This includes buying a stake in the financial services counter, PSG, and purchasing OK Bazaars for R1 in 1997. At the time, the retailer was losing R200 million a year.

Within a year, with the help of Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson, they turned OK Bazaars around and made it a sustainable business.

“One really has to put a lot of energy into managing the risk down and the reward up,” he said.

The Steinhoff deal

In 2015, the South Africa-based furniture retailer Steinhoff International spent $5.7 billion (R103 billion) in cash and stock to acquire Pepkor.

Wiese subsequently became the chairman of Steinhoff, a position he held when the Steinhoff scandal came to light in December 2017. 

The company disclosed accounting irregularities that significantly inflated the company’s financial health. The revelations led to a dramatic collapse in Steinhoff’s share price, which plummeted by more than 90% within days.

“The Steinhoff crash wiped over R200 billion off the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, erased more than half the wealth of tycoon Christo Wiese and knocked the pension funds of millions of ordinary South Africans.”

Internal investigations revealed that the company had overstated profits by around $7.4 billion (R133.8 billion) over several years​.

Wiese, who stepped down as chairman shortly after this news came out, was eventually proven innocent of this fraud. 

However, it came at a significant personal cost. Forbes explained that the 90% drop in the share price of Steinhoff, by far Wiese’s most valuable asset, pummelled his fortune.  

In 2016, before the Steinhoff deal, Wiese was named South Africa’s richest businessman.

He went from an estimated $5.6 billion (R101.25 billion) in March 2017 to $1.1 billion (R19.89 billion) on the 2018 Forbes list of Africa’s billionaires. He then fell out of Forbes’ World Billionaires list.

Following a multi-year legal battle that ended in a $500 million (R9 billion) settlement of cash and stock, Wiese regained his nine-figure fortune in 2022.

“I only got back a fraction of what I’d lost,” Wiese said on the CapeTalk podcast. 

He explained that rather than trying to recover the money he lost, he chose to dedicate himself to helping the South African economy grow, creating jobs and generating opportunities for young entrepreneurs.

Despite this major setback, Wiese managed to rebuild his empire and expand his businesses. 

He holds stakes in real estate firm Collins Property Group, investment holding company Brait and industrial products distributor Invicta Holdings.

In March 2023, Brait launched an IPO on the JSE, spinning off the food manufacturer Premier Group, in which Wiese owns approximately 47% of the shares.

His most valuable asset is Shoprite, which has grown tremendously since its acquisition. 

The group has leveraged technology to enhance customer experience and stay ahead of the competition, including creating Checkers Sixty60’s on-demand delivery service.

Shoprite’s strategic approach to store expansion also demonstrates a vital understanding of local demographics and community needs. 

“The business has basically been built on one slogan: Low prices you can trust. Just very, very low everyday prices,” Wiese said.