Meet Steinhoff's R10bn man: New Poundland boss, former Asda CEO Andy Bond

Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste has been South Africa's leading racehorse owner for most of the past decade. He never bets on them, one of the reasons for longevity in a sport with a higher churn rate than Pay-As-You-Go phone contracts. Jooste restricts his betting to people. And in former Asda CEO Andy Bond, Steinhoff put a staggering R10bn on the table. Bond is charged with turning the recently acquired 800-store Poundland chain into the jewel of Steinhoff's rapidly expanding European retailing empire. A 51 year old fitness fanatic, he became one of the UK's most recognisable CEOs when, soon after his 40th birthday, Bond was promoted to lead Walmart-owned Asda, the UK's second biggest retailer (after Tesco) which employs 170 000 people. After five years in the saddle, the man who hails from the same town (Grantham) as that famous grocer's daughter Margaret Thatcher, quit because he didn't want to move to the USA. Now he's ended up working with South Africans - people he got to know when engineering Walmart's acquisition of Massmart, Africa's second largest retailer. Here's the inspiring story of a man who, famously, seemed destined for a lower path after failing the UK schooling system's infamous "11-plus" exam. - Alec Hogg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices