BUSINESS NEWS - South African tycoon Christo Wiese resigned on Thursday as chairperson of Steinhoff , the latest setback for the retail group in the throes of an accounting scandal.
Once a must-have for investors who backed its reinvention from small furniture outfit into a retail empire, Steinhoff has seen its shares crash more than 80% since last week when it ordered an investigation into its accounts and parted ways with long-serving chief executive Markus Jooste.
Steinhoff said Wiese, its top shareholder and chairman who stood in as chief executive last week, had offered to step down to reinforce independent governance and address any possible conflict of interest.
Wiese has been chairperson since last year and a board member since 2013.
He owns about 22% of the company, the stake he built in 2014 when he sold his clothing retailer Pepkor to Steinhoff via a combination of cash and shares.
