A key rite of passage for a financial journalist was to be shouted at by Investec CEO Stephen Koseff. You knew before you went to press that a story was sure to get Koseff's office phoning the next day. There would be some choice expletives and you'd be told you didn't know what you were talking about. Annoyingly, he'd be at least partly right. It is simply not possible to know as much about Investec as Koseff does. No one, from politicians to competitors, was immune from Koseff's phone calls. And it extended into the bank too. The odd thing about those screaming fights is that they'd be coming from a good place. Koseff really cared deeply about Investec and, you realised over time, the country. When he thought someone needed to be set straight, he could not help himself. The boykie from Benoni expected people to be able to take it. At results presentations, Koseff would pick on journalists and analysts, quoting back something they'd written. Usually they'd got something wrong and K...
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