Corporate & Commercial Law
Former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste dies by suicide, reports say
A 63-year-old man whom police in South Africa on Thursday, 21 March 2024, said apparently died by suicide was identified by local media as former Steinhoff chief executive Markus Jooste.
Source: Reuters.
Jooste, who was instrumental in transforming Steinhoff from a small Johannesburg furniture outfit into a multinational retailer, had been handed a hefty fine for accounting fraud on Wednesday, 20 March 2024.
Police said an inquest case docket had been registered following the death of a 63-year-old man. They did not name the deceased.
"It is alleged that the victim sustained a gunshot wound at around 15:20 (local time) at Kwaaiwater and succumbed to death on his way to hospital," Western Cape police spokesperson colonel Andre Traut said in a statement, referring to a suburb of the coastal town of Hermanus near Cape Town.