AxizWorkgroup CEO Pierre Spies will become Pinnacle Group’s deputy CEO from July so that he can take over running the company when current CEO Arnold Fourie retires.
Fourie, who founded Pinnacle in 1993, was 52 when the company published its 2014 annual report. He has not put a firm date on the handover, noted Pinnacle.
The company says that Fourie is “determined to see Pinnacle through to a renewed position of strength” before retiring.
Pinnacle took a hammering last year when it announced executive Takalani Tshivhase had been arrested on charges of bribery. The news sent its share spiralling down to about half its value, and prompted Financial Services Board and JSE probes because shareholders were only told 20 days after the fact.
Both investigations were later dropped, and charges against Tshivhase withdrawn. Yet, the company continued to take flak from shareholders in 2014 as, in October, shareholders voted against its remuneration policy, and chairperson Daphne Mashile-Nkosi stepped down. It appointed Ashley Tugendhaft as acting chairman, a position that has now been made permanent.
Pinnacle has also streamlined its board, with the result that Tshivhase and Robert Nkuna have stepped down, but continue to serve on the executive committee.
