Peter Major is one of the most recognisable of South Africa’s money managers. Outspoken, articulate, forthright – the 59 year old’s opinions are based on a wealth of experience and deep knowledge. We first met three decades back when he was caning his Mining & Resources fund peers, outperforming the next best by ten percentage … Read more
The South Africa mining industry has had a really rocky time, what with unreliable commodity prices and ever-more volatile labour relations. But, according to Cadiz Corporate Solutions’ Peter Major, despite its many problems, foreign companies are eager to invest in the South African mining and minerals sector. Unfortunately, this eagerness is slow to translate into … Read more
From Reuters By Sarah McBride SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Offering a twist on the learn-from-anywhere convenience of Internet classes, a new university is asking freshmen to take a large leap of faith. Minerva Schools of KGI, a radically experimental university in San Francisco, is sifting through applications for its first class, starting this fall. The … Read more
A case to read Nassim Taleb’s Fooled by Randomness is emphasised in the 2013 performance of the South African stock market’s most valuable counters, the members of Alsi 40.  This was a year when it was far better to be lucky than skilled.  Had you enjoyed the good fortune of spreading your investment rands … Read more
If anyone has chutzpah, it must surely be Johannesburg entrepreneur Irvine Green. He has continually risked all to pursue a range of business ideas, with the obstacles to success almost always linked to government red-tape. Or, what he calls “meddling”. The Biznews.com small business expert shares his story of economic struggle to illustrate which business … Read more
The year 2013 is one miners will want to forget. Quickly. It was their Annus Horribilis with billions wiped off the value of JSE-listed resources companies. The evidence is clear in our table of the 25 worst performing stocks of 2013 –  19 of them engaged in mining. Gold shares were especially hard hit with the … Read more
The infant is growing and in rude health. On 4th August 2013, Biznews was born. It has been muscling up every day since, helped by editor Alec Hogg’s Undictated column. Initially commissioned by Business Day newspaper, Undictated has evolved into a self-standing section exclusively for Biznews. Here, in descending order, are the 10 best read … Read more
Hi there, Just after Biznews.com launched, mining entrepreneur Bernard Swanepoel wrote us a piece lamenting how hostile takeovers are so difficult under South African law. Swanepoel, of course, spoke from experience. He was Harmony’s CEO when it launched that hostile bid for Goldfields Limited – but failed because of a system that allowed Goldfields to drag things … Read more
Ten months ago, Bidvest founder Brian Joffe approached the board of Adcock Ingram with an unsolicited offer to buy two thirds of the business. Adcock’s shares were then trading around R50. Joffe’s cash and shares offer was worth R63. He was rebuffed by the board of directors as being “opportunistic”. Since then a cash and … Read more
Mining entrepreneur Robert Friedland is, well, interesting. Listed by Forbes magazine as a billionaire with $1.15bn net worth, Ivanhoe Mining’s founder attracts controversy like horses do flies. A brief Google search uncovers a two year jail sentence for drug dealing; an early US project still ranked the country’s worst contaminator; and, more recently, news of … Read more