Markus Jooste dies 

Markus Jooste died by his own hand on Thursday, according to reports from Hermanus. 

The former CEO of Steinhoff International – a multinational holding company that was dual listed in Germany and South Africa – Jooste was slapped with a R475-million fine  on Wednesday by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). 

Steinhoff International was officially liquidated on 13 October 2023. The fine followed findings by the FSCA that Jooste and Steinhoff’s former European finance chief, Dirk Schreiber, were guilty of publishing false statements about the company’s financial position between 2014 and 2017. 

Thousands of investors based their decisions on this information, resulting in hundreds of billions of rand in losses by pension funds, among others. 

The Financial Times called it “South Africa’s largest corporate fraud”.

When Jooste resigned from Steinhoff late in 2017, it caused an implosion that wiped out R200-billion in pension-fund and related investments. 

By the time investors realised that Steinhoff’s financial statements had been manipulated, there was no chance of recuperating their losses. 

According to a News24 report, “insiders in Hermanus confirmed that Jooste shot himself”. The disgraced mogul also owned the historic Lanzerac wine estate outside Stellenbosch. 

On Tuesday afternoon, the SA Reserve Bank attached both Lanzerac and his mansion in Hermanus.

By staff writer

Pictured above: Rest In Purgatory? News of disgraced Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste’s death broke on the evening of 21 March.

Source: X