Who Wants To Be A Billionaire?

On Koos Bekker's Billions

Just over a year ago, Jules and I met up with our friends Wortel and Lejanie at a Johannesburg wine bar, tucked away inside our favourite pizzeria. Wortel is the kind of guy that you never have to ask “What’s news?”, because he’ll tell you, and then segue into a story about road-tripping through Ethiopia. I knew that he was writing a book, but the first thing he told me that evening, with the omnipresent glint in his eye, was that he had entered Wie Word ‘n Miljoenêr (the Afrikaans production of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire).

Those who know him have come to learn that he has an appetite for big ideas: things like, “We’re knocking down a wall and opening an independent theatre” or, “I’m writing an unauthorised biography on Christo Wiese”, are two that jump to mind. The man of action he is, a few months later you’d then find yourself at a book launch for Christo Wiese: Risks and Riches, in the Strydom’s magical Dunkelder Theatre. 

On the topic of television game shows alone, he has an impressive track record. He may or may not have bankrupted a game show called Temptation South Africa in 2006, winning a R2.5m house in Johannesburg. He appeared on the KykNet game show BlitsBrein and, less auspiciously, he was the first contestant that Jeremy Maggs sent packing without a cheque from the hot seat of the English version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

Every time I chatted to him, he got that bit closer to the “fastest finger first” moment, until he couldn’t talk about it any more as he signed a non-disclosure agreement with the producers. We were in the dark about his participation in the game show, but less so about his other project: a biography about South African billionaire, Koos Bekker. He could talk about that, no problem, and it was coming along nicely.

If you have an interest in the South African Story, you should get your hands on Koos Bekker’s Billions by TJ Strydom, which was released earlier this month. It’s not a classic biography, but is more of a “business biography”, setting out the recipe for Koos Bekker’s success in fifteen steps (or lessons, principles, strategies). 

In addition to being insightful about Bekker, it provides an alternative modern history to the South Africa we know today. There was a lot I didn’t know about how M-Net was established in the 1980s, and Billions provides an interesting perspective on the company’s crucial role in the cultural transformation of South Africa. Billions also explores how Naspers created one of the biggest wealth creating moments in South African history — the investment in Chinese technology startup Tencent.

We drove out to the Billions book launch on Thursday evening at the V&A Waterfront’s Exclusive Books. A couple of years ago, at the Waterfront book launch for Christo Wiese: Risks and Riches, there was an interesting turn of events: Christo Wiese, who had previously declined to be interviewed for the book, showed up at the launch and even joined Wortel on stage for a few questions.

We joked with Wortie about whether Koos Bekker might take the drive down the N1 from his wine farm, Babylonstoren, to attend the book launch. No chance, he said. However, if you had bet on an Afrikaans billionaire being in attendance, you might have won something. Christo Wiese once again showed up and took a seat near the front to show his support.  

Johan Fourie in conversation with Wortel Strydom

Economics professor and author, Johan Fourie, held a fascinating conversation with Wortel as they covered some of the big moments and themes from the book. There was a lot to enjoy about the evening, and we even got a few one liners from Mr Wiese in the audience.

Koos Bekker did not endorse the book, and there may be parts of Billions that he’s not overjoyed to see in print. That said, reading Billions has only increased my admiration for the man, and I suspect it may do the same for you. 

Billions is a story that needed to be told, and we can count ourselves lucky that Wortel Strydom found his vocation as a storyteller and wordsmith. He said something that particularly resonated with me: “We need people to write down our stories and keep telling them. Because there’s a lot to learn in South Africa.” 

Wortel got stumped by the final question in Wie Word ‘n Miljoenêr, but still took home a cool R500,000 earlier this year. He and Lejanie are about to take a six month sabbatical and will be travelling through South America. Before they go, there will be one last show with Wortel on the stage of the Dunkelder Theatre before they terminate their lease. The show: Geen Kansvatters.

Wortel has written the Wiese and Bekker books because they are both wonderful stories and, as he puts it, “successful Afrikaners are too humble to tell their own story”. Perhaps, one day, there’ll be a book about a remarkable storyteller who once knocked down a wall in his lounge to open an independent theatre. I think I know who’ll be sitting near the front of that Waterfront book launch…