NBR names richest Kiwis

The NBR has released its annual list of New Zealand’s leading wealth creators, which includes a number of people who have connections past and present to the automotive industry.

The publication has compiled the top 119 Kiwi individuals and families, who all have fortunes in excess of $110 million.

The NBR List started in 2021 as a replacement for the annual rich list after the Covid-19 pandemic prompted a rethink of how to celebrate wealth in New Zealand.

Below are summaries of those on the 2025 list with links to the automotive industry.

Todd family – $3.5 billion (2024: $4.3b)

The family’s fortune may have dipped in the past year but it was still placed at number three on the NBR List for 2025.

The origins of the Todd Corporation go back to 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 extensive shareholder list potentially represents hundreds of family beneficiaries.

Trevor Farmer – $1.2b (2024: $950 million)

Trevor Farmer is the patriarch of the family and much of the veteran investor’s holding companies control large amounts of urban and rural property.  

The family’s main investment vehicle is Tappenden Holdings, which owns extensive property assets.

The Tappenden name is 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.  

Gibbs family – $900m (2024: $850m)

Entrepreneur and investor Alan Gibbs is 85 and has entrusted the management of his portfolio of assets to two of his daughters, Amanda and Emma, and their husbands.

He dedicated more than two decades to the development of high-speed amphibious vehicles and established an open-air sculpture park known as Gibbs Farm, which covers more than 500 hectares of land bordering the Kaipara Harbour. 

His free-market views were forged in the 1960s by a four-year struggle to build a New Zealand car-manufacturing business with his brother Ian. 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.  

Kirkpatrick family – $800m (2024: $800m)

James “Jimmy” Kirkpatrick died at the end of 2024, aged 94, but it is understood he operated a car yard called Midland Motors in Auckland before turning his attention to property in the late 1950s.

He went on to form the Kirkpatrick Group and ownership of the property empire was divided among his five children as part of succession plans. James Kirkpatrick jnr was appointed chief executive and managing director in 2019. 

Sam Morgan – $750m (2024: $700m)

Sam Morgan, who founded Trade Me in 1999, has turned into a social and corporate investor after making a fortune by selling the company to Fairfax in 2006 for more than $700m.

He made $227m from the deal and initially went on to invest in software company Xero and through Jasmine Investments has invested in a number of tech ventures. 

Morgan also set up Jasmine Social Investments to back social entrepreneurs working on projects to alleviate poverty. 

Giltrap family – $400m (2024: $480m)

Brothers Richard and Michael remain executive directors of the Giltrap Group after their father, Sir Colin Giltrap, died in April 2024.

The company imports and sells 19 of the world’s top automotive brands at dealerships across the country.

Sir Colin 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 he held a stake in one of the UK’s leading luxury motor dealers – HR Owen. 

He was also a keen supporter of motor racing and helped the careers of many Kiwis, including grandson Marco Giltrap, who currently drives for Team Porsche New Zealand in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia.

Drinkrow family – $380m (2024: $350m)

The Kaipara Ltd business co-founded by motor-racing enthusiast Allan Drinkrow covers civil engineering, quarries, and property development. It has been led by managing director Steve Riddell since 2018.  

Drinkrow has a collection of vintage race cars, which includes a 1959 Cooper Climax T51 driven by motoring legends Sir Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren, displayed in the Pine Harbour Motorsport Museum.

Don Braid – $200m (2024: $220m)

Don Braid started his career working as a clerk for the Shipping Corporation before joining Sea Freightways and then Daily Freightways, which was sold to Mainfreight in 1994.

He has been managing director of the transport company since being promoted into the role by its founder Bruce Plested in 1999.

Braid’s twin sons also work for Mainfreight, Jason as general manager for Mainfreight Americas and Corey as national business development manager in Australia.

Braid and his wife, Michelle, are keen rugby supporters and own a 10 per cent stake in the Better Blues consortium that owns the Blues rugby franchise.

To check out the full NBR List, click here.