For Christo Wiese, the retail tycoon who built Pepkor and was once Steinhoff's largest shareholder, the transaction can be described as a somewhat bittersweet milestone. His fortune was decimated in the scandal's wake, and his resignation from Steinhoff's board marked the end of an era. The Steinhoff debacle exploded in December 2017 when the company abruptly delayed its audited results, sparking panic. The then chief executive, Markus Jooste, resigned when PwC was appointed to investigate accounting irregularities. The probe uncovered a vast fraud — R100bn in fabricated transactions dating back to 2009, designed to inflate profits and conceal losses. The revelations obliterated 97% of Steinhoff's market value and triggered global investigations.