South African billionaire Rob Hersov's bitcoin investment rocked as four directors quit

South African tycoon Rob Hersov is among the biggest outside investors in Africa Bitcoin Corporation, a Johannesburg-listed company that lost four of its six directors last week in a fight with a shareholder group linked to its former chief executive.

Hersov held 6.16% of the company as of February, according to its annual report, as cited by ITWeb. That made him one of the largest holders outside the group controlled by former Chief Executive Officer Warren Wheatley, behind Dorsia Holdings with 7.03% and ahead of Creation Mezzanine Fund with 5.07%.

Chair Norma Sephuma, interim Chief Executive Officer Stafford Masie and independent directors Snowy Masakale and GG Alcock resigned with effect from Oct. 9, the company told the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Oct. 12. They cited "material differences" with WGW Capital, an investment company owned by a Wheatley family trust, that they concluded could not be resolved.

Only independent director Robin Coode and Financial Director Jonathan Phillips remain on the board. South African company law requires at least three directors, and the company said it was working with advisers to rebuild the board.

Alec Hogg, founder of financial news site BizNews and another investor in the company, said he should have been more transparent about his stake, News24 reported on Tuesday. BizNews had published a piece on Oct. 9 addressing its own shareholding in Africa Bitcoin Corporation, which it has covered closely since the crisis began.

Billionaires.Africa could not find a public comment from Hersov on the boardroom dispute.

How the dispute started

The company, formerly called Altvest Capital, renamed itself in 2025 after deciding to hold bitcoin as its main reserve asset, following the model of US-based Strategy. It said at the time that it aimed to raise as much as $210 million to buy the cryptocurrency. It owned 5.5331 bitcoin after a purchase in May that cost about R8.46 million ($508,000).

Its troubles began on Aug. 30, when the board learned that the Financial Sector Conduct Authority had issued debarment orders against Wheatley, Chief Investment Officer Akshay Karan and Tatum Keshwar-Wheatley, Wheatley's wife, who handled media and investor relations.

The regulator alleges the three manipulated Altvest's share price in September 2022. Wheatley was fined R5 million ($300,000) and barred for 20 years, Keshwar-Wheatley was fined R3 million ($180,000) and Karan R1 million ($60,000), ITWeb reported. The regulator made no finding against the company itself.

Wheatley has said the trades in question involved 50 shares worth R301 ($18). He resigned as chief executive on Sept. 21, describing the move as "voluntary and without any admission of wrongdoing," and all three are challenging the findings at the Financial Services Tribunal.

Shareholders push back

Wheatley and related parties raised their combined holding to 50.35% in August. On Oct. 8, WGW and other shareholders holding about 76% of the company demanded a meeting to appoint two new non-executive directors, whose names have not been disclosed.

The board accepted the demand as legally valid but said it would not support the appointments, citing "governance and regulatory integrity." A second letter, from holders of about 71.8%, then sought the removal of the four directors, who resigned before a vote could be held.

It is not clear from public filings whether Hersov was part of the group that demanded the changes.

Masie will stay in an executive role until Feb. 28, 2027, to manage the handover, the company said. Africa Bitcoin Corporation also postponed a planned listing and share sale on London's Aquis Growth Market on Oct. 1.

Hersov is the grandson of Anglovaal founder Bob Hersov. He started Marquis Jets Europe, which he sold to Berkshire Hathaway's NetJets in 2004, and later founded investor network Invest Africa. He also owns Cape Winelands Airport near Cape Town.