Well, this is turning into a year to forget for Christo Wiese.

After losing billions and billions in the Steinhoff debacle last year, the billionaire’s fortune has now taken another knock.

Brait SE, an investment company in which Wiese is the biggest shareholder, has revealed a decline in the value of its investments alongside higher borrowings.

A report by Business LIVE explains why that’s such bad news for Wiese:

Brait SE, in which Wiese owns a 35% stake, said net asset value was R57,32 at the end of March, compared with a restated R77,63 a year earlier, with retailer New Look struggling amid a sales slump on the UK’s shopping streets. The company’s other assets include fitness chain Virgin Active and supermarket chain Iceland.

Oof, that’s going to leave a mark.

Brait’s stock has been on a downward spiral, slumping by 41% over the past 12 months. It eventually reduced the value of Wiese’s Brait stake to about R7 billion:

Brait shares lost as much as 6% before reversing to gain 3,4% by the close in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The company decided not to declare a dividend and rather to focus on reducing its debt, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Thanks to this loss, the 76-year-old businessman is now worth a paltry R31 billion.

Okay, R31 billion is still a big deal. Compared to once being worth R68 billion before the messy Steinhoff scandal emerged, though, that’s a massive knock.

Brait’s loss is just one of many misfortunes Wiese is going through: he quit his positions as a non-executive director of New Look last month and as non-executive chairman of Brait South Africa, as he’s prepping for a legal battle with Steinhoff.

Plus, he’s currently suing the owner of Conforama in France and Mattress Firm in the US for R59 billion, and he’s had to sell his shares in Shoprite Holdings, Brait and Aspen Pharmacare Holdings to raise cash

Not to mention having to flog his two private jets to boost his personal wealth.

What tough times these poor billionaires have to endure.

[source:businesslive]