Full Name: Ruli Diseko
Position: CEO of Thakadu
Main Activity of the Company: Thakadu is a metals and energy beneficiation company and trader in nickel, chrome and coal. The company looks for opportunities to invest in, build and operate beneficiation plants to produce higher-value products, and then to trade these products globally
Date and Place of Birth: June 22, 1983, Soweto
Education: BCom, University of Cape Town (UCT); postgraduate diploma in business administration, Gordon Institute of Business Science; MBA, UCT
First Job: Economic analyst at the Department of Trade and Industry, in 2005
Size of First Pay Packet: R4 500 a month
Value of Assets under Your Control: About R200-million
Number of People under Your Leadership: Four
Management Style: I focus on execution and economic value-add
Personal Best Achievement: Funding my younger sister's studies at Fudan University, in Shanghai
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: My mother, Ohara Diseko
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: Ben Magara
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Ta-Nehisi Coates
Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Eric Molobi
Philosophy of Life: Hard work and dedication
Biggest Ever Opportunity: Managing a $200-million metals portfolio for a listed mining company at age 26
Biggest Ever Disappointment: Having to close my first business
Hope for the Future: That my children make a positive difference
Favourite Reading: King Leopold’s Ghost, by Adam Hochschild
Favourite TV Programme: Bloomberg and Supersport
Favourite Food/Drink: Anything my wife cooks
Favourite Music: Jazz and hip-hop
Favourite Sport: Basketball
Hobbies: Reading, running and gardening
Car: Landrover Defender
Pets: None
Miscellaneous Dislikes: Wasteful expenditure
Married: To Sampa
Children: Botshelo, 7; Moagi, 5
Clubs: None
Latest News: Lonmin has agreed to supply its crude nickel sulphate stream to Thakadu Battery Materials for beneficiation into high-purity battery-grade nickel sulphate at a $14-million purification plant to be constructed at Lonmin’s base metals refinery