Christo Wiese attends launch of unauthorised biography about his life
A book launch became a spectacular display of Wiese’s ability to charm all but the most implacable of sceptics
If the book lovers who had pitched up at the launch of TJ Strydom’s entertaining and informative unauthorised biography of Christo Wiese (Christo Wiese: Risk and Riches), were to form the jury on Steinhoff, the former chair of the retailer would have nothing to answer for. There was no doubt that the now much poorer Wiese was a victim of not just a con man but a con artist. Indeed, it wasn’t just Markus Jooste and his band of seven that led Wiese and other Steinhoff shareholders astray; there were the hundreds of auditors, bankers and analysts, all failing to detect the fraud at the heart of the group. Rumour has it Wiese was advised not to attend last week’s launch in Cape Town. Fortunately for those who packed the Book Lounge he opted to ignore that advice. It’s not that Strydom and co-presenter James Brent-Styan would not have put on a great show; it was that Wiese filled in some of the gaps that are inevitable in an unauthorised story. And he did so with great flair. Wiese regal...
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