John Todd's climb from the factory floor

John Todd

John Todd took over the reins after his uncle Sir Bryan Todd died in 1987 and has presided over an expansion of the Todd family's wealth and power.

In his history of Todd Motors, University on the Hill, Porirua-based writer Neil Penman notes Todd was educated at Wellington's elite St Patrick's College and then studied accountancy and commerce at Victoria University, before joining Todd Motors in 1948.

He worked his way through the ranks from the factory floor, through marketing, and finally ascended to managing director in 1968.

John Todd was in charge of Todd Motors when the family recognised it could no longer compete with international car makers and sold the assembly plant and the valuable dealer network to Mitsubishi in 1987.

He stepped into the top job just after the deal was completed and faced the difficult choice of making a significant investment decision when his experience to that point had largely been in the motor industry.

His first move was to buy a 25 per cent stake in Clear Communications, which the family later sold to British Telecommunications for about $100 million in 1999. He navigated Todd Corp through successful investments in property, the media, telecommunications, and dramatically expanded the energy business.

His activities outside the family fold included sitting on the board of Mitsubishi Motors after it acquired Todd Motors and a seat on the New Zealand advisory board of Westpac.