Two merino brands, one fibre, two exits: a NZ$288m trade sale and a US$4bn listing that ended at US$39m.
Startup · Topic
New Zealand Company Stories
Fifty-five in-depth stories on how New Zealand business works: co-operatives, gentailers, iwi investors, founders and exporters, organised in eleven pillars.
- 55 guides
- 11 subtopics
- Updated Oct 4, 2026
New Zealand Dairy & Agribusiness 5
New Zealand Founders & Dynasties 5
New Zealand Telecom & Media 5
New Zealand Infrastructure & Logistics 5
New Zealand Tourism & Aviation 5
New Zealand Healthcare & Aged Care 5
New Zealand Tech & Software 5
New Zealand Retail & Consumer 5
New Zealand Energy & Utilities 5
New Zealand Banking & Finance 5
New Zealand Māori Economy & Global Trade 5
Latest in New Zealand Company Stories
New Zealand and US Tariffs: How a 15% Rate Hit Exporters and Then Unravelled
Three legal regimes in sixteen months: 10%, 15%, 10% again and now 12.5%, with beef and kiwifruit exempt.
New Zealand-China FTA: How the First Western Deal With Beijing Bred Dependence
Signed in 2008, the deal made China the buyer of about a quarter of everything New Zealand exports.
The Māori Economy: How Iwi, Trusts and Firms Built a NZ$126bn Asset Base
Iwi corporations get the headlines, but most of the NZ$126bn Māori economy sits in ordinary businesses.
Ngāi Tahu Holdings: How a 1998 Treaty Settlement Became a NZ$2bn Iwi Investor
A NZ$170m settlement in 1998 is now a NZ$2.2bn balance sheet run for descendants not yet born.
Sir Stephen Tindall: How The Warehouse Founder Became a Venture Backer
Stephen Tindall built New Zealand’s biggest discount retailer, then spent thirty years turning its shares into start-ups and philanthropy.
All guides
Rod Drury: How a Serial Founder Built Xero and What He Did Next
Rod Drury listed Xero with almost no revenue, ran it for twelve years and then walked away to build trails and infrastructure in Queenstown.
Peter Beck: How a Self-Taught Engineer With No Degree Built Rocket Lab
Peter Beck never went to university, learned on a dishwasher factory floor and now runs the second most active launch company in America.
The Todd Family: How a Quiet Dynasty Turned Cars and Gas Into Billions
Around 200 relatives, one private company and a third of New Zealand’s gas: the Todd family is the country’s oldest big business dynasty.
Graeme Hart: How a Tow-Truck Driver Built a Leveraged Buyout Empire
Graeme Hart turned borrowed money and unglamorous businesses into a NZ$14bn fortune, and he did it almost entirely out of public view.
Wētā FX and Wētā Workshop: How Wellington Built a Screen Industry on Rebates
Two Wellington companies made Middle-earth and Pandora; a 20-25% rebate keeps the work in New Zealand.
New Zealand’s Media Collapse: Why Newshub Closed and Who Is Left Standing
A newsroom closed, a TV network sold for a dollar and a bargaining law left on the shelf.