Some may say Whitey Basson is something of an acquired taste. But like the renowned wines from his home ground of Stellenbosch, Shoprite’s front man is one of the region’s greatest exports — and like fine wine, he gets better with age.Basson has led Shoprite for just under four decades, growing the business from one with a value of R1m to a retailer with a market capitalisation of R114bn. Based on market dynamics in the early 1980s and 1990s the retailer should never have risen to its current heights.When Basson and his management team arrived on the scene, it was dominated by Pick n Pay, OK Bazaars and Checkers.Calculated risks by Basson — which included moves into the rest of Africa when no-one else was expanding north of SA, and absorbing OK Bazaars and Checkers — turned the group into a market powerhouse .At 70, Basson is long past the conventional retirement age but shows no signs of slowing down or stepping down.Yet industry pundits have already begun to speculate as to who th...
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