Trillian CEO made a fortune on Nhlanhla Nene's axing, former employee tells MPs
'On Nenegate, I was told — but it’s unconfirmed — that Wood and his people traded on the pre-knowledge'
A former Trillian employee says CEO Eric Wood made huge profits through knowing beforehand that Nhlanhla Nene would be sacked as finance minister in December 2015. Mosilo Mothepu told Parliament’s public enterprises committee on Tuesday that Wood knew as far back as October 2015 that Nene would be fired and replaced by Des van Rooyen. The committee is probing the capture of Eskom and other parastatals. Zuma’s decision to sack Nene in 2015 sent the rand and other markets into a tailspin. Van Rooyen was swiftly replaced by Pravin Gordhan, who had been fired by Zuma earlier in 2015. “On Nenegate, I was told — but it’s unconfirmed — that Wood and his people traded on the pre-knowledge [that Nene would be fired],” Mothepu said. “In November, Wood bought US dollars before the change of minister. He [Wood] knew that the announcement would affect the rand … when our investments and the rand was crashing, he reverse-traded and made hundreds of millions of rand,” said Mothepu. She said she wa...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.