Bruce Whitfield back on the mic with a new weekly News24 podcast

News24

14-07-2025

Simon Sonnekus/ News24
Acclaimed financial journalist Bruce Whitfield is launching a new weekly podcast on News24.
Whitfield spent two decades helping people understand and enjoy business news as the voice of The Money Show. He has written three books (with a fourth coming out soon), is a keynote speaker, and has contributed widely to various South African media houses.
His secret?
Well, he's not completely sure – but not being afraid to ask stupid questions has certainly helped.
Whitfield's spent his early years in the Free State, where he went to boarding school in Bloemfontein at the age of eight. He matriculated in Grahamstown and pursued a journalism degree at Rhodes.
After graduating, Whitfield started his career as a bulletin writer at 702, before he was thrust out into the world as a field reporter.
He said that he spoke so fast at the start of his career that he earned the nickname 'Ayrton Senna' after the late great Brazilian Formula 1 driver who won three drivers' championship world titles with McLaren.
He said he spoke so fast, 'mostly because I was so frightened of what I was covering'.
He followed a university girlfriend to the UK, where he stayed for a few years after democracy, before coming back to South Africa and running a radio service for the SA Press Association. He briefly produced some shows for SAFM.
'Very honest'
Whitfield joined Moneyweb in 2000. This was his first foray into financial journalism. While it proved to be crucial for the trajectory that his career would take, it wasn't a smooth start.
'Three weeks into my time at Moneyweb, I was called in for a meeting and told I was about to be fired because they had never employed anybody quite as clueless as me – to which I responded: 'But I told you, in the 10 interviews you made me do that I knew nothing' – to which I was told, 'Well, you told everybody the same thing, so you were very honest about it, but nobody believed that anybody could be as clueless as you!''
They agreed to keep him on until at least the end of his three-month probation period. Before his time was up, he ended up breaking 'the biggest tax story of the decade' about a R1.4-billion dispute between the South African Revenue Service and businessman Dave King.
The story shot the lights out, and they agreed to keep him on a little longer (three more years, to be precise).
Whitfield left Moneyweb to join Primedia, where he started what would become The Money Show. During his two decades on The Money Show, Whitfield estimates that he interviewed roughly 50 000 people.
Whitfield said that the show developed a 'wonderful following' because it became about interviewing entrepreneurs and interesting people, in addition to corporate people like CEOs, who were also integral.
Whitfield stepped back from The Money Show a year ago to focus on other projects.
Make it relatable
Whitfield said that the willingness that he showed early in his career to expose his ignorance and to be the person who says that he 'doesn't know' is something he has tried to carry with him through his career.
'Most people in most places are really nice, really willing to help, and really willing to listen. If you shut up and listen, you learn stuff,' he said.
'I think what I've been able to do over many years — and I've fallen into the bad traps of jargon from time to time — is always putting myself in the position of 2000s Bruce to go 'actually, why does the even matter? Why should anyone even care about it?''
Those are the questions he plans to consider when creating Bruce Whitfield's Business Week, the new weekly podcast he is launching on News24.
'People are often intimidated or bored by business coverage, as they can't relate to it. I have learnt over many years to show why business matters in everyone's life and make it relatable.
'A lot of what you see in business coverage is really important, but the stories are told badly. I operate on a philosophy that not everything that is interesting is important, and not everything important is interesting.
'My job is to tell the difference and deliver great business content without the boring bits,' he said.
He added that the podcast would explain everything important that has happened in the world in 30 minutes.
After being away from broadcasting for about a year, Whitfield said it is good to be back behind the mic.
'It's good to be getting back into the saddle again in some form, and truly consolidating what's important in the world and helping people understand what is worth worrying about and not worrying about,' he said.
Bruce Whitfield's Business Week kicks off on Thursday 17 July at 17:00.