Boardroom Talk – Energy turnaround specialist KW Miller on Eskom: both rational and mind-blowing

We finally managed to co-ordinate diaries for that promised interview with energy turnaround specialist KW Miller. It was worth the wait. He was full value – joining the dots in the Eskom mess in a way that makes a lot of sense. He describes Eskom as comfortably the worst he has come across in three decades of examining and fixing similar disasters..I approached the interview determined to tackle the man who reckons because of the plundering at Eskom, and the impact on the economy as a whole, South Africa is itself on the verge of bankruptcy. As one would. But as he laid out his case, it became ever harder to challenge his assertions..Eskom has been plundered to the point of near extinction. Check. It is still being bled dry by third parties injected on grounds of "BEE", and by criminal syndicates. Check. Its debt is not self-standing because most of it is guaranteed by the SA government. Check. The lion's share of that debt was raised by Eskom selling bonds into global markets – and the international investors who own it, want action. Check..___STEADY_PAYWALL___.After mentioning the forthcoming interview with KW Miller in this newsletter, some members of the tribe pointed me towards the "expose" on him by rightwingwatch.org linking him to QAnon and worse. Except for a brief explanation from his side, I left this alone, preferring to focus on the message rather than alleged defects of the messenger. The result is rational and mind-blowing at the same time. Have a listen – click here..Have had a few notes asking why this week's presentations have not been advertised. That's because they are for Standard Bank clients. We have, however, managed to secure some seats to the Johannesburg event for Premium members. It's on Thursday at 6pm and I will be covering Politics vs Economics in light of the 2024 national elections and the potential for a coalition led government. Please email lucy@biznews.com to book a spot. Unfortunately both Cape Town and Durban are fully booked. As mentioned a few times in recent newsletters, our partnership with The Wall Street Journal ended yesterday. As a result, access to WSJ.com is no longer included as part of your membership of BizNews Premium..More for you to read today: .Bulls on Meta stock have one big problem: Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg built Meta into one of the biggest companies in the world, but some see him as an obstacle to the stock recovering from a historic selloff.Emerging stocks are flashing a 2008 financial crisis signal. The MSCI EM Index has tumbled 31% this year so far, underperforming its developed-nation counterpart which is down 18%.Russia is mostly failing in race to find new oil markets. Moscow needs to find new markets for almost 1.4 million barrels a day of crude. That won't be easy.Lula narrowly wins Brazil's presidency in historic comeback. Lula da Silva won in a dramatic comeback for the left-wing politician who was languishing in a jail cell for corruption just three years ago.Winning both ways – 36ONE's Cy Jacobs on the genius of Hedge Funds for retail investors. When co-founding 36ONE almost two decades ago, top SA money manager Cy Jacobs used the opportunity to launch a long/short hedge fund.Charting the Global Economy: ECB boosts rates; Fed, BOE on deck. The ECB led policymakers increasing interest rates. Canada slowed its pace of rate hikes, while Colombia's central bank raised borrowing costs to a more than two-decade high.Standard Bank sets sights on expansion into Africa. Expanding in the continent's biggest economies is part of a strategy to ward off intensifying competition and tap African companies growing within the region.Twitter limits content-enforcement tools as US election looms. Most people who work in Twitter's Trust and Safety organization are currently unable to alter or penalize accounts that break rules around misleading information, offensive posts and hate speech..The BizNews Premium Podcast.Premium Briefing Ep 7 – Making sense of the markets with Alec Hogg – how much worse can it get after the tech stock wipeout? And the bargain hunter's guide to the JSE..Winning both ways – 36ONE's Cy Jacobs on the genius of Hedge Funds for retail investorsWhen co-founding 36ONE almost two decades ago, top SA money manager Cy Jacobs used the opportunity to launch a long/short hedge fund. Initially only for big clients, this massive outperformer was made available to retail investors six years ago. In this interview with Alec Hogg of BizNews, Jacobs explains how a classic hedge funds enjoy major risk and reward advantages over traditional unit trusts – and shares his latest perspectives on which parts of the investment markets are most likely to deliver superior returns. .NB FOR YOUR WALL STREET JOURNAL ACCESS….As a Premium subscriber you are entitled to full membership of wsj.com (normal price $29 a month). Be sure to action your access through the Premium link on the BizNews website. Because of The Wall Street Journal's credential requirements, be sure to create a password which has at least 8 characters and includes at least one letter and one number – NB it MAY NOT contain any special characters (ie #, !, @ etc). To maintain access to WSJ.com, you MUST enter our partner's website via BizNews Premium at least once a month. A final PS, if you had previously signed up for WSJ you'll need to clear the cookies from your device. Our helpdesk can assist –support@biznews.com.

Boardroom Talk – Energy turnaround specialist KW Miller on Eskom: both rational and mind-blowing

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