Christo Wiese selling two of his private planes

Dollar billionaire and former chairman of Steinhoff Christo Wiese is selling two of his luxury private jets.

Wiese confirmed this to TimesLIVE on Wednesday afternoon after Huffington Post South Africa reported he is selling his Dassault Falcon 900C and Boeing Business Jet.

“It (the report) is totally accurate. We are looking at buying one airplane instead of two.”

Wiese did not want to elaborate on why he was selling his private aircraft.

“Oh my gosh‚ is it really necessary for you to write about my airplanes?”

According to Forbes‚ Wiese’s net worth plummeted from $5.6-billion in March last year and now stands at $1.1-billion.

Wiese is selling his Dassault Falcon 900C with the registration ZS-JCC and his Boeing Business Jet with the registration VP-BBJ.

Both planes are registered to Toerama (Pty) Ltd which is registered to an address in Parow‚ Cape Town.

Christo and his son Jacob are listed as directors of Toerama in a Steinhoff prospectus.

The Falcon has the same logo on the tail of the plane as Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West which Wiese owns.

According to FlightRadar24.com‚ the Boeing made a return trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town on Monday. 

The Falcon can transport 14 passengers and three crew members‚ and has wi-fi‚ a Nespresso machine‚ microwave and oven on board. 

The Boeing carries 18 passengers‚ has a lounge‚ two 4-seat dining tables‚ a bedroom with a double bed and an en-suite bathroom with a shower.

Steinhoff shares have slumped almost 95% since accounting irregularities emerged in December that wiped off more than R182-billion of its market value.

Steinhoff shares traded at R2.23 on Wednesday afternoon. The company’s current market value is about R9.6-billion‚ but barely five months ago its market capitalisation stood at R196.73-billion.