COMPANY COMMENT
Sonn stars in difficult Steinhoff presentation
Heather Sonn’s chairing represented a master class in how to handle difficult AGMs and will surely be available on DVD in no time
The Steinhoff annual general meeting (AGM) was truly a historic piece of corporate governance theatre. Those in attendance who had not suffered the pain of losing money and could afford a detached perspective will certainly have been impressed by Heather Sonn’s chairing. It represented a master class in how to handle difficult AGMs and will surely be available on DVD in no time. For most of the meeting’s three hours and 43 minutes Sonn maintained the balance between firm, informative and sympathetic. Without presenting herself as a victim, Sonn did convey the impression she was suffering as much from Markus Jooste’s feral management style as anyone at the AGM. That might just be the case. Sonn and her two long-standing supervisory board colleagues are trapped at Steinhoff for the foreseeable future. Their only possible escape route was the ignominious option of not securing the 50% of votes needed for reappointment. At about 4pm on Friday that route was closed. They were reappointed...
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