The 2010 Influencers: Who are they?

The judges have conferred, the lists have been compiled, and here are the most influential people in New Zealand business this year

Monday, July 26 2010 || Influencers || BY Unlimited

Martin Snedden

2009
Snedden’s performance as CEO of Rugby New Zealand 2011 can only come under increasing scrutiny as the Rugby World Cup draws ever closer

Mark Solomon
2008, 2009
The Ngai Tahu kaiwhakahaere (chairman) is leading the charge of the Maori economy, with the tribe’s total assets reported at $657 million in 2009

Sir Ken Stevens
2007, 2008, 2009
Glidepath founder and managing director Sir Ken is chairman of Export New Zealand, and led a trade mission to China late last year

Michael Stiassny
2008, 2009
Big receiverships continue to keep the KordaMentha partner’s name in the headlines. Stiassny is also chairman of Vector

Peter Talley
2007, 2008, 2009
Talley flies below the publicity radar, but nevertheless wields huge influence as a patriarch of the Motueka-based Talley’s food empire

Sir Richard Taylor
2008, 2009
Weta Workshop’s genial giant was recently knighted for his work in making some of the most successful movies of all time

Sir Stephen Tindall
2007, 2008, 2009
The Warehouse founder, philanthropist and prolific investor is investing millions in green technologies

Tumanako Wereta
2009
Wereta is the chairman of the Tuaropaki Trust, considered a shining example of how effective Maori business can be at creating wealth

The judges
Our Influencers judges have the process down to a fine art. They prepare preliminary lists, send them into the editor who tries to make some sense of the various scrawls (we’re looking at you, Andy Hamilton), then comb through the lists again. Finally we all gather in a dark airless room, and argue like hell before agreeing to whatever Fiona Rotherham says. She is the big boss of Fairfax business media, after all.

Actually, it’s not like that at all. Preparing the Influencers list is entirely unscientific and a hell of a lot of fun. And who better to do it than our fine panel of judges. We would also like to note that discussion of the 2010 Influencers was fuelled by Sacred Hill’s exceptionally fine wines.

Greg Cross is currently chairman of the Icehouse incubator, executive chairman at PowerbyProxi, chairman of SLI Systems, and director of Cross Ventures. He was also named the Inspiring Individual of the Year at
the 2010 Hi-Tech Awards.

Andy Hamilton is founding CEO of the Icehouse, founding chair of Incubators New Zealand, outgoing chair of the Angel Association and 2009 Vero Excellence in Business Support Awards Individual Award winner.

Sandra Lukey is a director of Shine Group, which works with local and international companies on marketing, communications and business development.

Peter Townsend is chief executive of the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce, a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management and the Institute of Directors
and a member of the NZTE board.

The Unlimited team: Fiona Rotherham, managing editor Fairfax Business; Unlimited editor Mark Revington;
deputy editor Caitlin Sykes.