Love and war for Presley

"She's a great person. A wonderful person," enthuses Marco Marinkovich. "What else can I say? She's a lovely, lovely lady who's a lot of fun."

But that's as far as the surprisingly bashful Marinkovich is prepared to go in discussing new love interest, 42-year-old Annette Presley. The internet diva and TV dragon was breathing fire last week after the shock announcement by CallPlus, jointly owned by estranged husband Malcolm Dick, 55, that she was standing down as the chief executive of the company's subsidiary, Slingshot.

It was, apparently, all news to the multi-millionaire businesswoman, who claimed to be still calling the shots at the country's third largest telco.

In business and in the boardroom, timing is everything, and with Presley in Fiji holidaying aboard the 68-foot yacht Seatoy, there was probably not a better time for Dick, and CallPlus, to strike.

Friends of the pair say the events of last week are typical of what has been going on since they split four months ago. Dick and Presley haven't spoken since their break-up, with personal assistants making all arrangements concerning their two children. "It hasn't been that ugly to date because they haven't talked," said a source close to the couple.

Neither Dick, who has children from a previous marriage, nor Presley were returning Herald on Sunday calls yesterday, but Presley claimed last week that as the biggest shareholder she wouldn't be stepping down from CallPlus without a fight.

If not in size, but certainly in influence, it could be the heavyweight bout of the year.

With CallPlus' annual turnover in excess of $60 million, the stakes in this war of the roses are very high.

With an estimated fortune of close to $70m, by anyone's standards Presley and Dick are seriously wealthy - bona fide Rich-Listers. They own a swanky $6m beachfront Auckland home, several houses overseas, a luxury yacht, several expensive cars and enjoy frequent skiing holidays in North America, sailing trips to the islands and weekends across the Tasman.

But as a couple, friends say, they couldn't be more different - a moneyed version of George and Mildred. Presley is a flamboyant extrovert while Dick is regarded as conservative and cautious.

"He's generous to a fault but certainly not showy with his money," said a friend.

Presley is a known socialite and stories abound about her sometimes "loud and boisterous" behaviour after a few glasses of wine. After the Dragons' Den launch party last month, her only public appearance with Marinkovich, friends say she was seen guzzling from a bottle of Moet while exiting a limousine.

Marinkovich, 58, who runs a creative advertising agency and was chairman of the suicide lobby group Yellow Ribbon, told the Herald on Sunday he attended the party with Presley, but said it was only as a friend. However, several well-placed sources have confirmed Marinkovich and Presley are more than just that.

It's a fact Marinkovich refuses to acknowledge, at least publicly.

While again strenuously denying he was romantically involved with Presley, he said he was not responsible for the marriage bust-up.

"I don't have a relationship with her. I am definitely not responsible for her marriage break-up," he said. "She has a better relationship with [Sir] Bob Jones than me."

However, Marinkovich was aware of a posting on an internet blog in July which blamed Presley for "breaking up an innocent family", but said as far as he was aware it had not been posted by any of his four children -or estranged wife Michelle, who he left in May last year.

"She's [Presley] in Fiji with another chap. She's got a lot of friends. She's on the boat at the moment with someone else. He was rubbing oil on her back yesterday," Marinkovich said.

"Their relationship [Presley and Dick] has nothing to do with me. The first time I met her was in January this year at a friend's business function. We are not lovers. We are really good friends."

When pressed again about whether they were in a sexual relationship, Marinkovich then said: "Not today". He later followed the comment up with a bizarre text message stating: "OK, I admit - I have had relations with a goat."

Marinkovich then sent another text message saying: "Yes, I am a friend of Annette, who is not really a dragon."

Despite Marinkovich's denials, several friends and business associates said his relationship with Presley was "fairly serious".

"She would be taking this very seriously," one friend said.

Whatever the exact nature of the relationship, it is almost certain it marks the end of Presley's 15-year love affair with Dick. Presley and Dick met in the early 1990s at a golf function and in 1992 moved across the Tasman where they went into business, establishing Call Australia, a toll-call company that at its peak raked in more than $100m a year. They sold the company for around $60m and returned to New Zealand in 1997 and set up CallPlus, a company which offers voice and data services to businesses and residential users.

The impeccably dressed bleach-blonde Presley, known for her love of red sports cars and Versace suits, became the public face of Slingshot, which took on the telco market with its cheap internet service.

CallPlus chief executive Martin Wylie, while reluctant to discuss the issues facing the company, admitted the marriage break-up was the backdrop to the latest battle in the boardroom.

And while divorce tends to bring out the worst in people, friends say it is unlikely the acrimony will spill over from the boardroom and affect the two children.

"Malcolm is quite calm about it all. They are good parents and were good in business together," said a source.

"There's no way Annette will be moving in with Marco. She's too protective of the kids for that."

A friend of Marinkovich, who did not wish to be named, said the advertising guru was not doing anything wrong as he was a single man.

Marinkovich had taken his marriage to Michelle very seriously, and he was reluctant about the relationship ending, the friend said.

"He tried to keep it together for quite some time. He's a straight shooter - he doesn't bonk around.

"It's all a bit of a shame really. I'm not sure what will become of him and Presley."

THE KEY PLAYERS

Annette Presley
Chief executive and marketing face of Slingshot, a subsidiary of CallPlus, jointly owned with husband Malcolm Dick. Callplus is NZ's third-largest fixed-line telephone and internet company. NBR Rich List put the pair's worth at $70 million. A mother of two, and one of the stars of Dragons' Den whose guiding maxim is:"Feel the fear and do it anyway."

Patron of not-for-profit Dress for Success, which helps outfit low-income women for their return to the workforce. Also involved with Prevention of Violence in the Home and Kidz First Hospital. In 1992, Presley had a car accident, writing off the company's Porsche 944. A lengthy recuperation meant the company effectively stopped trading.

Malcolm Dick
Dick, 55, was a shareholder in Netway Communications, which was owned in a 50 per cent joint venture with Telecom. In 1992, Dick co-founded Call Australia, with 200 staff and an annual turnover in excess of A$100m (NZ$114m). After selling Call Australia in 1997, Dick and Presley returned home to establish CallPlus. They established Slingshot in 1999.

Along with Presley, he owns a $6m waterfront home in Takapuna, several luxury cars and the 68-foot yacht Seatoy.

Marco Marinkovich
Marinkovich is a father of four with more than 25 years' experience in advertising. He started in advertising at Ogilvy & Mather, Auckland, then transferred to Ogilvy & Mather in London, then Milan before returning to NZ to become one of the founding partners in HKM (Hutcheson Knowles Marinkovich).

In 1999 he founded CreativeBank, a creative and strategic communication agency.

A founding trustee of Youth Suicide Awareness Trust and trustee of the Yellow Ribbon programme and board member of FADE (Foundation of Alcohol and Drug Education).