30 Famous New Zealand Entrepreneurs and the Companies They Built

New Zealand is a country of five million people at the bottom of the world, yet it has produced founders whose companies are known everywhere: a rocket company that launches for NASA, the accounting software running on millions of small-business screens, one of the most-copied online marketplaces ever built. Here are thirty of the most famous New Zealand entrepreneurs and the companies they built.

The List at a Glance

#	Entrepreneur	Company	Sector	Founded
1	Sir Peter Beck	Rocket Lab	Aerospace	2006
2	Graeme Hart	Rank Group	Packaging & investment	1987
3	Sir Rod Drury	Xero	Software	2006
4	Sam Morgan	Trade Me	Online marketplace	1999
5	Nick Mowbray	Zuru	Consumer goods	2003
6	Anna Mowbray	Zuru	Consumer goods	2003
7	Sir Stephen Tindall	The Warehouse	Retail	1982
8	Sir Michael Hill	Michael Hill Jeweller	Jewellery retail	1979
9	Jeremy Moon	Icebreaker	Apparel	1994
10	Tim Brown	Allbirds	Footwear	2016
11	Chris Heaslip	Pushpay	Fintech	2011
12	Brianne West	Ethique	Beauty	2012
13	Nadia Lim	My Food Bag	Food	2013
14	Cecilia Robinson	My Food Bag	Food	2013
15	Victoria Ransom	Wildfire Interactive	Marketing software	2008
16	Craig Piggott	Halter	Agritech	2016
17	Geoff Ross	42 Below	Drinks	1999
18	Jamie Beaton	Crimson Education	Education	2013
19	Craig Heatley	Sky Television	Media	1990
20	Les Mills	Les Mills International	Fitness	1968
21	Sir Peter Jackson	Weta	Film & visual effects	1993
22	Dame Theresa Gattung	My Food Bag	Telecoms & food	2012
23	Diane Foreman	Emerald Group	Investment	1990s
24	Sir Ian Taylor	Animation Research	Sports graphics	1990
25	Bruce McLaren	McLaren	Motorsport & automotive	1963
26	Sir Ray Avery	Medicine Mondiale	Medical technology	2003
27	Kelly Tarlton	Underwater World	Attractions	1985
28	Sir Ted Manson	Mansons TCLM	Property	1975
29	Johannes La Grouw	Lockwood	Housing	1951
30	Mat Mowbray	Zuru	Consumer goods	2003

1. Sir Peter Beck, Rocket Lab

The self-taught engineer from Invercargill founded Rocket Lab in 2006, took it public on the Nasdaq and now launches satellites for NASA. He is one of the country's richest people and its most internationally recognised founder.

Standout: Rocket Lab is the first company to reach orbit from a private launch site.

2. Graeme Hart, Rank Group

A former tow-truck driver, Hart has used leveraged buyouts through his Rank Group, controlled since the late 1980s, to build a global packaging empire, and remains the wealthiest self-made New Zealander.

Standout: Has led the NBR Rich List as the country's wealthiest person for well over a decade.

3. Sir Rod Drury, Xero

Drury founded Xero in 2006 and built it into a cloud accounting company used around the world and one of New Zealand's most valuable listed businesses.

Standout: Xero passed one million subscribers in 2017 on its way to millions more.

4. Sam Morgan, Trade Me

Morgan started Trade Me in 1999, the auction and classifieds site that became so dominant it reshaped how the whole country buys and sells.

Standout: Sold Trade Me to Fairfax in 2006 for around NZ$700 million.

5. Nick Mowbray, Zuru

Nick co-founded Zuru with his siblings in 2003 and grew it from a small toy operation into a global consumer-goods group, a fortune that now tops the national Rich List.

Standout: Zuru is now one of the world's largest privately owned toy makers.

6. Anna Mowbray, Zuru

Anna helped build Zuru, founded in 2003, into a worldwide toy and consumer-goods business and is now one of the country's most prominent entrepreneurs and investors.

Standout: One of very few New Zealand women to build a global consumer-goods company from scratch.

7. Sir Stephen Tindall, The Warehouse

Tindall opened the first Warehouse in 1982, grew the red-shed discount chain nationwide, then became one of the country's most active start-up investors through his K1W1 fund.

Standout: His K1W1 fund was an early backer of Rocket Lab, among hundreds of New Zealand start-ups.

8. Sir Michael Hill, Michael Hill Jeweller

Hill opened his first jewellery shop in Whangarei in 1979 and built Michael Hill Jeweller into a listed international chain trading across New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

Standout: Michael Hill Jeweller trades from hundreds of stores across three countries.

9. Jeremy Moon, Icebreaker

Moon founded Icebreaker in 1994 and turned New Zealand merino wool into a global technical-clothing category before the brand was bought by VF Corporation.

Standout: VF Corporation, owner of The North Face and Vans, bought Icebreaker.

10. Tim Brown, Allbirds

A former football captain, Brown co-founded Allbirds in 2016, put a New Zealand wool shoe on feet across Silicon Valley and beyond, and listed the company on the Nasdaq.

Standout: Allbirds was once valued at more than a billion dollars.

11. Chris Heaslip, Pushpay

Heaslip co-founded Pushpay in 2011 and scaled the church donation and engagement platform into a dual-listed company once worth more than a billion dollars.

Standout: Pushpay was taken private in 2023 in a deal worth more than a billion dollars.

12. Brianne West, Ethique

West founded Ethique in 2012 from her university kitchen and built the solid-cosmetics company into a plastic-free beauty brand sold internationally.

Standout: Has since launched a new drinks venture, Incrediballs.

13. Nadia Lim, My Food Bag

Lim turned MasterChef fame into My Food Bag, co-founded in 2013, one of the country's best-known meal-kit companies, and later a high-country farm.

Standout: My Food Bag listed on the NZX in 2021, one of that year's biggest floats.

14. Cecilia Robinson, My Food Bag

Robinson co-founded My Food Bag in 2013, the meal-kit company that became a household name and later listed on the NZX, and has since backed other New Zealand ventures.

Standout: Also co-founded the childcare service Au Pair Link and, later, the health company Tend.

15. Victoria Ransom, Wildfire Interactive

Ransom co-founded the social-marketing company Wildfire Interactive and sold it to Google in 2012, one of the most successful exits by a New Zealand founder in Silicon Valley.

Standout: Has since co-founded the United States childcare start-up Wonderschool.

16. Craig Piggott, Halter

A former Rocket Lab engineer, Piggott founded Halter in 2016 and built its solar-powered smart cattle collars into one of the country's fastest-growing agritech companies, backed by major United States venture firms.

Standout: Halter has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from leading United States investors.

17. Geoff Ross, 42 Below

Ross created 42 Below vodka and sold it to Bacardi in 2006, then moved on to other ventures including Moa Beer.

Standout: Built and sold 42 Below to global drinks giant Bacardi in about seven years.

18. Jamie Beaton, Crimson Education

Beaton co-founded Crimson Education in 2013 while still a teenager and turned university admissions coaching into a global operation valued in the hundreds of millions.

Standout: Crimson Education now operates in more than 20 countries.

19. Craig Heatley, Sky Television

Heatley co-founded Sky Television in 1990 and built a fortune spanning media and property.

Standout: Heatley also developed the Gulf Harbour resort and remains a major property investor.

20. Les Mills, Les Mills International

A four-time Olympian, Mills opened his first Auckland gym in 1968 and gave his name to a group-fitness brand now licensed to studios worldwide.

Standout: Les Mills workouts are taught in tens of thousands of gyms in around 100 countries.

21. Sir Peter Jackson, Weta

The Lord of the Rings director co-founded the visual-effects house Weta in Wellington in 1993 and built it into a facility that could deliver Hollywood-scale work from the suburb of Miramar, keeping the industry at home rather than moving it offshore.

Standout: Sold Weta's technology arm to the software company Unity in 2021 for about US$1.65 billion.

22. Dame Theresa Gattung, My Food Bag

After running Telecom for eight years, Gattung co-founded the meal-kit company My Food Bag in 2012 and built a portfolio spanning business, healthcare and philanthropy.

Standout: As chief executive of Telecom she was the first woman to lead a major NZX-listed company.

23. Diane Foreman, Emerald Group

A self-made businesswoman who left school at fifteen, Foreman took charge of the packaging company Trigon, sold it to Sealed Air in 1996 for around NZ$130 million and reinvested through her private Emerald Group, later growing the New Zealand Natural ice-cream brand to hundreds of stores.

Standout: Named EY New Zealand Entrepreneur of the Year in 2009.

24. Sir Ian Taylor, Animation Research

A former children's television presenter, Taylor founded Animation Research Limited in Dunedin in 1990 and turned it into a global name in sports graphics, from cricket ball-tracking to the America's Cup, without ever leaving the lower South Island.

Standout: Shared a Sports Emmy in 2014 for the company's America's Cup app.

25. Bruce McLaren, McLaren

The Auckland racing driver founded Bruce McLaren Motor Racing in 1963 and built his own cars rather than driving other people's, laying the foundation for one of the most successful names in Formula One and, later, a maker of road-going supercars.

Standout: In 1959 he became the youngest driver to win a Formula One world championship race, a record that stood for decades.

26. Sir Ray Avery, Medicine Mondiale

The scientist and inventor founded the charity Medicine Mondiale to develop low-cost medical devices for the developing world, from cheaper cataract lenses to intravenous flow controllers.

Standout: Named New Zealander of the Year in 2010 and later knighted for his medical technology work.

27. Kelly Tarlton, Underwater World

A diver and treasure hunter, Tarlton turned a set of disused Auckland stormwater tanks into Underwater World in 1985, building the walk-through acrylic tunnel that lets visitors watch sharks swim overhead.

Standout: His walk-through tunnel aquarium design was later copied by aquariums around the world.

28. Sir Ted Manson, Mansons TCLM

Manson built Mansons TCLM into one of the country's largest commercial property developers, responsible for a string of Auckland office towers, then used the same expertise to fund emergency housing.

Standout: Funds and builds emergency housing for families in need through the Ted Manson Foundation.

29. Johannes La Grouw, Lockwood

A Dutch immigrant and engineer, La Grouw co-founded Lockwood in 1951 and patented the interlocking solid-timber system that made its exposed-pine homes one of New Zealand's most recognisable house designs.

Standout: The nail-free Lockwood building system is still putting up homes seventy years on.

30. Mat Mowbray, Zuru

The engineering brain of the Zuru founding trio, Mat Mowbray left an engineering degree to build the company’s early tooling from a Guangzhou factory floor, and now leads its product design and building-robotics work.

Standout: He and his brother Nick share the top of New Zealand’s rich list, their Zuru fortune estimated at around $20 billion.

What They Have in Common

The pattern that connects them is not an industry, it is an attitude. A small home market forces New Zealand founders to design for the world from day one, and distance from the traditional centres of capital breeds a make-it-yourself resourcefulness that shows up again and again, from Beck machining rocket parts to Moon knocking on wool-buyers' doors. It is the same instinct now driving a new wave of young founders just getting started.

Who Is the Most Famous New Zealand Entrepreneur?

It depends on how you measure fame. By wealth, Graeme Hart stands alone as the richest self-made New Zealander, with a fortune built through leveraged buyouts of global packaging companies. By international profile, Sir Peter Beck may now be the best known, having taken a New Zealand rocket company to the Nasdaq and launched satellites for NASA. Between them they capture the two faces of New Zealand enterprise, the quiet dealmaker and the public founder.

Who Are New Zealand's Most Famous Women Entrepreneurs?

New Zealand's best-known women founders reach across every industry on this list. Brianne West built the plastic-free beauty brand Ethique. Anna Mowbray helped grow Zuru into a global toy and consumer-goods group. Cecilia Robinson co-founded My Food Bag before backing other ventures. Nadia Lim turned cooking fame into a food business and a high-country farm, and Victoria Ransom sold her Silicon Valley company Wildfire to Google.

Many of these names also appear on the richest people in New Zealand list, and several made their fortunes almost entirely offshore, the subject of our look at New Zealand's quiet billionaires.

Last reviewed July 2026. Rankings and figures in this guide draw on the National Business Review Rich List and companies' own public announcements. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.