The 2009 Influencers
Who are New Zealand's business superheroes - the thought leaders, the big decision makers, the wealth creators? Check out the 2009 Influencers list. Sponsored by QBE Insurance
Wednesday, August 12 2009 || Features || BY Caitlin Sykes
| Illustration: Samantha Asri / Watermark |
The former Jade Software managing director has completed marathons around the world, and spotted the Antarctic event on a website called Marathon Tours. “I thought, ‘That sounds way cool. Why wouldn’t you go and run a marathon in Antarctica if you possibly could?’”
Why indeed?
There’s something that clearly separates the influential from the mere mortal. This is the third year (2007, 2008) Unlimited has compiled a list of the most influential people in New Zealand business, and our criteria reflect just what superheroes they must be. Not only do they create wealth, their influence extends beyond their own immediate sphere of business, and they give back in some way. Politicians, by the way, are off the list. As one of the Influencers judges said, “It’s about people who create wealth, not those who take it away.” Cheeky bugger.
Carr is one of 18 new faces on this year’s list. The judges noted his business acumen would be influential at the university, and said we needed more entrepreneurs like him, people unafraid to take calculated risks. Phillip Mills of Les Mills International and Brent Robinson of Rakon were included for similar reasons.
Others are people of this particular hour. As chair of the Capital Market Development Taskforce, investment banker Rob Cameron “is leading an important debate at the moment”, says judge Peter Townsend. Mai Chen (labelled One to Watch last year) is chairing New Zealand Global Women, a new group aimed at boosting the contribution of women in high-level business. With only three women among this year’s Influencers, it’s an idea whose time has surely come.
Former Ernst & Young New Zealand chief executive John Judge was recently named chairman of ACC, and was included for his increasing influence behind the scenes as a director. He laughs at the suggestion he’s influential, but acknowledges he neatly fits his own description of influence.
“It’s having the ability in either a number of companies or a number of spheres to effect change.”
Of course, nothing could be more topical than the recession. Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe and entrepreneur Tony Falkenstein are included on the list, in part for championing efforts to keep the good ship NZ Inc afloat amidst a perfect economic storm. Like Carr, they’re clearly unafraid of a challenge.
While circumstances dictated the rising influence of some, others fell. Thirteen of 2008’s Influencers are absent from the list in 2009. Entrepreneurs Peri Drysdale and Peter Maire, for example, are no less impressive than in years past, the judges reckoned, but are simply focused on their own business interests at present. Some from 2008 have shifted to a new Influencers sub-category we’ve called Wise Counsel. Included are wise heads like Eion Edgar, who may be less influential than in previous years but continue to make a valuable contribution.
Then there are the perennials. Eco-champion and Living Earth founder Rob Fenwick, Guinness Peat Group executive director and mandarin magnate Tony Gibbs, and technology entrepreneur and investor Neville Jordan are among those to make the list three years running.
Compiling such a list is a subjective exercise, and for that reason our 50 Influencers are not ranked. There are five, however, whom the judges thought should be at the head of the pack: deal-maker extraordinaire Graeme Hart; Allan Hubbard, whose South Canterbury Finance is a survivor in the decimated finance company sector; Icebreaker’s Jeremy Moon, a master of design and brand; creative giant and World Class New Zealander Richard Taylor; and Tuaropaki Trust chairman and symbol of the rising influence of Maori business, Tumanako Wereta.
Feel free to agree, disagree or write an angry letter because you weren’t included. But we think creating such a list is one way to acknowledge the superhuman efforts of those building NZ Inc.
About now, we could use all the heroes we can get.
To see the Unlimited Influencers 2009, go to the following pages
A-F G-J K-R S-W
Click here for the full list
or go to the Harpies list
