Rich List’s big winner is also its prime loser

Up there in the stratosphere, when Wiese feels Brexit pinch it leaves a R23bn bruise

IF you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to be richer than Capitec, which had a market cap of R75-billion at the end of November, Christo Wiese might be able to provide a little insight.

Worth R81.26-billion, Wiese is the richest man in South Africa.

For the second year in a row he leads the Rich List compiled for Business Times by Who Owns Whom, after unseating Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg in 2014.

Ironically, Wiese is also the biggest loser after the value of his shareholdings in, for example, Brait, Shoprite and Steinhoff International, to name a few, fell R23.5-billion from a year ago.

The Rich List is based on the value of disclosed directors’ holdings in JSE-listed companies for the period between December 1 2015 and November 30 2016.

An overwhelming majority of those in the Top 200 — 157, to be exact — are white men, while black men take up 35 spots. There are only seven women in the Top 200, led by Sygnia CEO Magda Wierzycka at No 34.

Wierzycka’s holding of just over 65% of Sygnia is worth R1.47billion.

The 22% drop in Wiese’s wealth over the past year is largely a result of a 23.88% slump in Steinhoff’s share price. Wiese, who is Steinhoff’s chairman, owns 15.4% of the retail holding company. His stake amounts to R42-billion or 52% of his publicly disclosed wealth.

Peter Takaendesa, an equity analyst at Mergence, said Steinhoff’s mid-term earnings growth was likely to still be constrained by a stronger rand as most of its earnings are derived outside South Africa.

The group has sealed major international deals, buying British retailer Poundland and Mattress Firm in the US.

Wiese also has a 34.63% stake in investment holding company Brait, which has several interests in the UK including a large stake in Virgin Active, valued at R15.36billion.

Wiese is a nonexecutive director of the company.

A fall in the value of the pound has caused Brait’s share price to plummet 46.5%.

Wiese also owns 15.89% of Shoprite, valued at R17.05-billion. Its share price gained 34.2% during the reporting period.

While Wiese lost the most money in terms of the value of holdings, the biggest loser by percentage is John Whittaker, who owns a 24.83% stake in UKbased Intu Properties.

Whittaker lost about 32% of his wealth due to the impact of the Brexit vote on the pound.

A surprise entrant in the Top 10 is Atul Gupta, who appears in seventh place. He is the list’s top black billionaire, with R10.69-billion. Gupta owns 64% of Oakbay Holdings, his family’s parent company, which owns ANN7 and Tegeta Exploration and Resources.

The Gupta family and their

John Whittaker lost 32% of his wealth due to the impact of the Brexit vote

dealings through several companies held under the Oakbay umbrella have been mired in scandal, including featuring in the public protector’s “State of Capture” report.

The resources sector helped some gain ground, in some cases substantially.

Patrice Motsepe’s stake in African Rainbow Minerals puts him in 11th position with R9.5billion, compared to R3.79-billion the year before.

The retail index — the year’s biggest loser by sector — shed 12.7% of its value, with retailers under pressure due to weak consumer spending, higher inflation rates and interest rates.

Woolworths’s share price was down 34.8%, and Mr Price shares shed 27.4%. Woolworths CEO Ian Moir dropped 123 places to 268 on this year’s Rich List. His salary was R32.19-million.

Mr Price Group CEO Stuart Bird, who is at 302 (from 251 last year) in directors’ holdings, was paid R16.11-million in the 2015 financial year.

Victor Dima, retail analyst at Arqaam Capital, said job creation had been the key factor in driving retail sales, but now with rising unemployment, price hikes in food and higher interest rates, many had cut back on spending.

The second-worst sector was financial services, which lost 3.2% this year thanks to slow economic growth and currency volatility.

Investment holding companies such as Brait fell 48% and Remgro was down by 8%.

Jannie Durand, CEO of Remgro, slipped from 103 the previous year, when he was worth R195-million, to 190 this year, with R173-million.

PSG financial analyst Adrian Cloete said that the woes of UK/SA dual-listed companies such as Intu Property, whose shares were down by 36.6%, and Investec, which shed 15.5%, were caused by the sudden weakening of the pound, driven by Brexit.

Investec CEO Stephen Koseff, who is now worth R602-million, dropped 19 places this year.

In the IT sector, the software index was up 10%, while mobile telecommunications companies such as MTN and Vodacom were down.

However, Telkom, which has done a good job of sorting out business issues, saw its share price rise 15%. CEO Sipho Maseko received a R5.2-million performance bonus.

Dima said retailers would probably perform slightly better next year if economic growth improved as expected.