NBR lists wealthy Kiwis
The NBR has revealed New Zealand’s leading “wealth creators” with many figures involved in the motor-vehicle industry making an appearance.
Uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic through 2020 saw the publication put its annual rich list on hold and led to a rethink of its approach in celebrating wealth.
It has now come up with The NBR List, which ranks 100 Kiwis who put equal focus on profit and purpose.
Below are summaries of those on the 2021 list with links to the automotive industry:
Todd family – $4.3 billion
The Todd Corporation has branched into many sectors since the family’s first commercial venture in 1884 – a fellmongery and wool scour in Otago.
Over the generations it has been involved with the automotive sector and Todd Motor Industries was a major player assembling and selling cars before being sold to Mitsubishi in 1987.
However, the family’s biggest impact has been in the energy sector. Todd Energy holds interests in producing fields that account for about 60 per cent of New Zealand’s annual hydrocarbon production, as well as being one of the country’s leading energy producers through Todd Generation.
Todd Corporation’s shareholder list consists of 45 separate entries representing potentially hundreds of family beneficiaries.
Trevor Farmer – $750 million
Much of the veteran investor’s holding companies control large amounts of urban and rural property.
Farmer also runs Tappenden Holdings, owner of a 25 per cent stake in Tramco Group as well as a significant property portfolio.
The Tappenden name is historically more associated with Farmer’s long-term business partner Alan Gibbs, whose fortune was founded on his acquisition of car dealership Tappenden Motors with partners Charles Bidwill, John Fernyhough, and Warren Paine.
Farmer and Gibbs also bought out then-listed Freightways through Tappenden Holdings in 1985, before selling it on in 1997.
Alan Gibbs – $650 million
Entrepreneur and investor Alan Gibbs has reduced his commitments in New Zealand to just four companies, including Gibbs Amphibians, one of several corporate entities over the years involved in his bid to create a high-speed amphibious vehicle.
His free-market views were forged in the 1960s by a four-year struggle to build a New Zealand car-manufacturing business.
Bureaucratic roadblocks foiled those efforts and he moved into investment banking. Deals that helped fuel his fortune, include the acquisition of car dealership Tappenden Motors, the management buyout of Freightways with business partner Trevor Farmer, and the privatisation of Telecom in the 1990s, again with Farmer.
Sam Morgan – $580 million
Sam Morgan founded Trade Me in 1999 and made an instant fortune in 2006 after selling the company to Fairfax for more than $700m.
He went on to invest in software company Xero and through his investment vehicles – Jasmine Investment Holdings and Jasmine Fleet Holdings – has interests in companies across a diverse range of industries.
Sir Colin Giltrap – $440 million
Sir Colin Giltrap owns 67 per cent of the Giltrap Group, which imports and sells 18 of the world’s top automotive brands.
He remains executive director of the group while his sons Michael and Richard manage operations.
Giltrap co-founded his first car dealership, Hamilton-based Monaco Motors, in 1966 before expanding his interests over the next few decades.
At one point, his motor-vehicle empire spanned three countries, and while he no longer owns a stake in one of UK’s leading luxury motor dealers – HR Owen – he still ranks as the fourth-most powerful car salesman there.
John Copson – $375 million
John Copson started out in financial insurance as an underwriter before founding Autosure in 1986. The company quickly became a household name serving 650 car dealerships with credit insurance, mechanical warranties and breakdown insurance.
In 2004, Vero bought Autosure for $68m and Copson used the proceeds to set up a new finance venture called WestStar Capital.
He also established the Crown Asia Pacific Group, which became the main investment vehicle for a growing property portfolio that was initially focused on redeveloping car yards in strategic locations.
Copson joined forces with former colleague Steve Owens in 2013 to launch Provident Insurance.
Drinkrow Family – $310 million
The Kaipara Ltd empire founded by motor-racing enthusiast Allan Drinkrow covers civil engineering, quarries, and property development.
Allan, who is in his mid-70s, has a collection of vintage race cars that is displayed in The Pine Harbor Motorsport Museum.
Grant Baker – $125 million
The chairman of Turners Automotive Group owns about 7.5 per cent of the used-car retailer and financier.
His other business involvements include The Home Bakery, a property fund that develops, renovates and rents residential property, and being chairman of a diet supplement and skincare company, Me Today.
Baker is also an avid collector of Ferraris and last year he sold one and bought three.
One to watch: Colin Neal – $100 million
Investor Colin Neal picked up an 87.5 per cent stake in the Jucy car and campervan rentals business in November 2020 despite the company struggling in the wake of Covid-19.
Mostly through his investment company Polar Capital, he also owns Smiths City and Price Wise and has numerous stakes in the food sector.
Neal’s surge of investing activity over the past year follows him receiving $55m of cash and shares from Freightways for his half share in Big Chill Distribution, which he founded in 1998.
To check out NBR’s entire rich list, click here.
