JOHANNESBURG, 8 October 2026 — Former Dimension Data and NTT Ltd chief executive Jason Goodall has admitted secretly participating in the purchase of the company’s Johannesburg headquarters while advising NTT on its sale. He has agreed to pay NTT US$12.5 million in a settlement accompanying the admission.
His statement, signed on 5 October and reported on 7 October, names four other former executives. They have rejected his account and said he was not authorised to speak for them.
What did Jason Goodall admit? The former Dimension Data CEO admitted a hidden buyer-side interest in the 2019 Campus sale while advising NTT as seller. His statement accompanies a US$12.5 million settlement. Four executives named in his account deny wrongdoing and dispute his description of the transaction.
Goodall acknowledges an undisclosed conflict
In the signed statement published with TechCentral’s report, Goodall accepts that he participated on both sides of the 2019 transaction without disclosing his interest to NTT.
He says the interests were held through nominees in an arrangement intended to conceal the participants’ names. He also accepts that his position required him to disclose both his involvement and that of the other executives he identifies.
“Our participation and non-disclosure was a very serious breach of fiduciary duty and misled NTT,” he wrote.
Goodall says the participation remained hidden until a whistleblower’s report in May 2021. He rejects the argument that a possible management buyout excused the conduct, saying that would have been a separate transaction. He expresses regret for the harm to NTT and apologises to its employees.
The admission places his own financial interest at the centre of the dispute: he was advising the seller while also participating with the buyer. His assertions about the other executives are contested by those named.
A US$12.5 million settlement
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Jason Goodall Admits Secret Interest in Dimension Data Campus Sale
Oct 8, 2026
Oct 8, 2026
5 min read
Published
Updated:
JOHANNESBURG, 8 October 2026 — Former Dimension Data and NTT Ltd chief executive Jason Goodall has admitted secretly participating in the purchase of the company’s Johannesburg headquarters while advising NTT on its sale. He has agreed to pay NTT US$12.5 million in a settlement accompanying the admission.
His statement, signed on 5 October and reported on 7 October, names four other former executives. They have rejected his account and said he was not authorised to speak for them.
What did Jason Goodall admit? The former Dimension Data CEO admitted a hidden buyer-side interest in the 2019 Campus sale while advising NTT as seller. His statement accompanies a US$12.5 million settlement. Four executives named in his account deny wrongdoing and dispute his description of the transaction.
Goodall acknowledges an undisclosed conflict
In the signed statement published with TechCentral’s report, Goodall accepts that he participated on both sides of the 2019 transaction without disclosing his interest to NTT.
He says the interests were held through nominees in an arrangement intended to conceal the participants’ names. He also accepts that his position required him to disclose both his involvement and that of the other executives he identifies.
“Our participation and non-disclosure was a very serious breach of fiduciary duty and misled NTT,” he wrote.
Goodall says the participation remained hidden until a whistleblower’s report in May 2021. He rejects the argument that a possible management buyout excused the conduct, saying that would have been a separate transaction. He expresses regret for the harm to NTT and apologises to its employees.
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The admission places his own financial interest at the centre of the dispute: he was advising the seller while also participating with the buyer. His assertions about the other executives are contested by those named.
A US$12.5 million settlement
Financial Mail’s report confirms the settlement figure and describes its rand equivalent as approximately R209 million.
That payment is separate from the original property transaction. It represents the amount Goodall has agreed to pay NTT under the reported settlement, rather than the value of The Campus or a calculation of every participant’s financial interest.
TechCentral said Stein Scop Attorneys, representing NTT, supplied the statement and that NTT confirmed its authenticity. The document’s footer identifies it as part of a settlement agreement dated 5 October 2026.
The complete settlement agreement has not been published, according to TechCentral’s separate report of the executives’ response. Its full terms therefore remain outside the public account, including the precise scope of the claims being resolved.
Four executives challenge the statement
Jeremy Ord, Steven Nathan, Saki Missaikos and Grant Bodley issued a joint response on 7 October. In their response reported by TechCentral, they said Goodall’s admission conflicted with his earlier sworn evidence and reflected terms negotiated to settle personal claims against him.
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They denied that the investment structure was designed to hide their participation. Their account was that Identity Partners designed the fund and that NTT approved it after receiving professional advice.
They also repeated their position that their investment was connected to a potential management buyout negotiated with NTT. Goodall’s statement expressly rejects that explanation as a justification for non-disclosure.
The four maintain their denial of wrongdoing and place their position before the Supreme Court of Appeal. Goodall’s admission does not constitute an admission on their behalf; the disagreement over disclosure and approval remains central to the case.
How the Campus dispute developed
The dispute concerns The Campus in Bryanston, Johannesburg. MyBroadband’s account of the admission and earlier investigation describes the 2019 sale to a black women-led consortium and the subsequent investigation into executives’ undisclosed interests.
NTT appointed law firm Herbert Smith Freehills to investigate the transaction and later pursued legal action against former executives. The case brought scrutiny to a property sale presented as a black economic empowerment transaction.
In November 2024, Johannesburg High Court judge Denise Fisher declared the sale void and awarded punitive costs. TechCentral’s contemporaneous account of that judgment records the court’s finding that the arrangement created a secret financial benefit and placed executives in conflict with their boards.
The executives challenged that judgment. XTRAfrica’s earlier coverage of the Campus dispute reported their intention to appeal. Goodall’s signed admission is a new development in that existing litigation.
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A former chief executive breaks with his colleagues
Goodall occupied a senior position when the transaction took place. NTT’s July 2019 leadership announcement named him global CEO of NTT Ltd, the London-headquartered business that brought together 28 companies, including Dimension Data.
His statement now separates his position from that of the four executives who continue to defend their conduct. The dispute is no longer accompanied by a uniform denial from all the figures he names: one has acknowledged a hidden interest, while the others challenge his explanation.
Proceedings against other parties continue
NTT’s attorneys told TechCentral that South African proceedings against Ord, Nathan, Missaikos, Bodley, Bruce “Doc” Watson and property consultant Martin Epstein continue. Goodall was not included in that list.
The Supreme Court of Appeal heard the appeal against Fisher’s judgment on 11 May 2026. The 7 October reporting says judgment was reserved. Goodall’s settlement and statement are separate developments from the appeal’s outcome.
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