Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa February 2016 | Page 12

MASTER INVESTOR

Christo

Wiese
How to Invest like a Property Tycoon

C
BY DREW HOOK

hristo Wiese is the non-executive
chairman of Invicta Holdings
Limited, the chairman of Pepkor
and is currently the controlling
shareholder of Shoprite Holdings
Limited, Africa’s largest retailer. He
has become the 11th most successful businessman in his
chosen fields of industry and the 69th most successful
person in South African history. He was awarded,
among others, with the title of Business Leader of the
Year by the Cape Town Sakekamer, the title Pioneer
of the 20th Century by the South African Council of
Shopping Centers; during 2015 he received the Sunday
Times Top 100 Companies Life Time Achiever and
top Business Leader of the year Award. He is the first
African honoured through an induction into the World
Retail Hall of Fame.
Christo Wiese has long been acknowledged as one of
the biggest names in South African retail and property
investment. But his rise to become one of his country’s
richest businessmen began on a much smaller scale
when his parents co-founded Pep Stores in 1965 and he
worked for the company during his vacations.
In 1981 he became the executive chairman of
Pep Stores and the following year changed its name
to Pepkor. The company, which was listed on the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 1972, went on
to spread its footprint across Africa, Australia and
Poland. According to Wiese, the leadership principle
behind Pep was ‘articulated in five concepts and words;
Faith, Positive thinking, Hard work, Enthusiasm and
Compassion. Those are our guiding principles and how
we operate.’
From there it has been story of one deal after another
as his business empire has blossomed across Africa,
Europe and Asia. It was through Pep Stores that Dr

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FEBRUARY 016 SA Real Estate Investor

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