KEY POINTS:
Former All Black half-back David Kirk has proved nimble-footed as chief executive at Australasia's oldest media company, pulling off two huge deals since taking the helm in August 2005.
The Rhodes scholar who led New Zealand to victory at the 1987 Rugby World Cup has become a major player in the Australian corporate world.
The A$9 billion merger deal he announced yesterday tops off a year which also saw him shock Australian media commentators with the $700 million purchase of Trade Me.
A qualified doctor, Kirk left New Zealand to study at Oxford at the end of his rugby career in 1987.
He returned to coach the Wellington NPC team in 1993 and 1994.
Kirk was also a staffer for Prime Minister Jim Bolger in the 1990s before moving into the corporate world.
The Fairfax job was his first in the media sector but he has worked on the fringes of the newspaper industry for several years as an executive for printing and paper companies.
In 1998, he moved to Fletcher Paper as head of marketing.
He then became regional president Australasia for Norske Skog - the world's second biggest paper manufacturer. After that he was managing director of PMP, Australia's largest printer.
Kirk was approached to head Fairfax after a protracted executive search. Many thought that the job would go to the former head of the New Zealand operations Brian Evans, who handled the Fairfax purchase of INL newspaper assets.
Wellington-born Kirk is married with three boys. He lives in Sydney but is still president of the New Zealand Rugby Players Association.
He made his All Black debut in 1983 and played 17 tests including 11 as captain. He played provincial rugby for Auckland and Otago. He was awarded an MBE for services to rugby.
