Financial Mail wins Editors Series of MTN GIBS Business Masterminds

These two teams, plus another seven members of other Editor's Series teams will now go forward to the final of the MTN GIBS Masterminds challenge at the Hilton in Sandton on Thursday 4th September, where they will compete against 15 other corporate teams drawn from the various sectors of the JSE Securities Exchange.

The sponsors of this prestigious event are the City of Johannesburg, the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), the JSE Securities Exchange, Hilton Sandton, Moneyweb, MTN Business Solutions, SAA. The winning team in the final in September will each receive R5000 from MTN Business Solutions, a course from GIBS valued at R10 000, an air ticket from SAA valued at R20 000 to any destination in the world, a tour of Soweto courtesy of the City of Johannesburg and an office chair from Dauphin Office seating SA

The Editor's Series was broadcast live on Moneyweb every Wednesday, beginning on July 2 and ending last night. Eight teams were invited to compete; Business Report, Business Times, Finance Week, Financial Mail, Moneyweb, Reuters, Sake Beeld and Sake Rapport Each publication entered teams comprising two of their leading editorial lights. The Financial Mail team secured their place in the final by beating the Business Times team in the first round and the I-Net Bridge team in the semi-final. The Moneyweb team beat Sake Rapport in the first round and Business Report in their semi-final.

Last night's final was a nail-biting affair, with the questions being far tougher than usual, reflecting the fact that this was the final of the Editor's Series. The Moneyweb team stormed ahead in the first two rounds and had established a significant lead going into the last round, where points were lost for incorrect answers. The two teams were tied at 13 points each when the last question of the series was put to the Financial Mail team. In retrospect, it seemed like a relatively easy one "Who is the Mayor of Johannesburg". Quick as a flash, Financial Mail answered "Amos Masondo", after hearing the four possible answers from quizmaster Alec Hogg. This was correct and Financial Mail ending up winning the contest and the series, by 15 points to 13.