You can't accuse Vita Group founder, Maxine Horne, of being a one trick pony. 

Australia's richest female CEO gave Aussie investors another master class in how to play the stockmarket this week when she finally found Vita's stock price to her liking. 

For those who missed the fun. Horne sold $92 million worth of stock last year at up to $4.95 a pop in an effort to diversify her investment portfolio. 

What excellent timing.

The stock price tumbled late last year when the first hints emerged that Andy Penn's Telstra might want to alter the details on the lucrative retail partnership that had made Vita's Fone Zone business so profitable in recent years. 

The upshot is - nine months ago she sold 10 million shares for just under $50 million. This week she waded back into the market and acquired 3.2 million shares at just under a dollar each - less than $3.2 million in total.

The news of her astute purchase sent Vita's share price rocketing to a high of $1.10, which added roughly $3.2 million to the value of the other 25 million shares she owned. Which means her share splurge paid for itself. 

Horne is a tough and canny lady, so let's hope Horne's buy is a sign that the torturous contract negotiations with Telstra are going well. 

In the Mailey 

CBD's colleagues at the AFR have had a lot of fun pursuing the Naked CEO - CPA Australia boss Alex Malley - who has declined, until now, to go naked on just how much he gets paid at the bean counting body. 

And no wonder. It turns out that he clocked up $1.79 million in pay last year. It is a pricey sum for the CEO of an ASX-listed company, let alone the head of an industry body. 

Keep in mind this does not include the huge amount of cash the accounting body splashes on his Nine Network show, In Conversation with Alex Malley. 

Or the tens of millions reportedly spent on marketing, which includes sponsorship of the Australian Open and the National Basketball League. 

CBD looks forward to the screams from CPA members if the organisation finally publishes naked accounts detailing just where its members' money has gone in recent years. 

Frock shock

Speaking of bean counters, what happens when you put them in charge of a fast fashion group like Top Shop? 

In the case of this failed retailer you get the website taken down as you start your big mid-year sale. 

A spokesman for the administrators said the website "has been temporarily taken down while the administrator's review the various parts of the group. This review will endeavour to ensure that customers can continue to buy product online as soon as possible." 

Dash for cash 

One can only wonder what former corporate cop, Tony Hartnell, is doing in the company of corporate raider, Farooq Khan, and banned company director, Nick Bolton.

But their attempt to take control of ASX-listed cash box, Molopo Energy, is being crushed by another corporate regulator, the Takeovers Panel. 

It declared unacceptable circumstances "in relation to the affairs of Molopo" this week and is currently contemplating what action it should take. 

It is quite a prize. Molopo has a market capitalisation of $34 million, cash holdings of $67 million, and minimal cash burn as it "continues to assess opportunities in the oil and gas sector." 

In other words it was a perfect fit for Khan who has built his corporate reputation on the back of cash box raids like this.  

The fun was kicked off by the Bolton and Khan-backed Keybridge, which owns just under 20 per cent of Molopo.

It requisitioned a shareholder meeting to sweep the board and install its own candidates. This includes Hartnell who was chairman of ASIC's predecessor, the Australian Securities Commission. 

As an aside, last December, ASIC banned Bolton from managing corporations for three years following his involvement in the failure of 13 companies that left creditors with debts totalling $25 million. 

But back to Molopo. The panel found unacceptable circumstances despite its determination that - based on the evidence provided - the key Molopo shareholders in question, Bolton and Farooq's Keybridge, and Aurora, were not associates.  

But clearly the panel's decision recognised that it is more complicated than that. John Patton is chairman of Keybridge and managing director of Aurora which now owns just under 18 per cent of Molopo. 

Oh, and did we mention Keybridge used to own Aurora. Patton and Bolton have a significant economic interest in Aurora, and Bolton has also advised the company on its Molopo investment. 

No wonder the panel found that Patton is conflicted in his role at Keybridge "in relation to the acquisition or use of Molopo shares given his role at Aurora." 

The panel also said: "It appears to the panel that the acquisition of control over voting shares in Molopo has not taken place in an efficient, competitive and informed market. The holders of shares in Molopo do not know the identity of person who have acquired a substantial interest in Molopo."

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