Hart up 91 places despite drop in net worth

Graeme Hart. Photo / Martin Sykes

Despite a 12 per cent drop in his estimated wealth, businessman Graeme Hart has climbed 91 places on the Forbes Billionaires list.

With a net worth of around US$4.5 billion ($8.7 billion), New Zealand's richest man now ranks at 110 on the business magazine's list of world billionaires.

Described by Forbes as "the master of the leveraged buyout", the former tow truck driver had cash on hand to buy the Australian arm of United States timber producer Weyerhaeuser for US$250 million last May.

Since 2006, Hart has bought Carter Holt Harvey, SIG Holdings, Alcoa's packaging and consumer division, International Paper's beverage packaging unit and US drink carton maker Blue Ridge Paper Products.

Having refinanced $3.5 billion in debt Hart is said to be on the lookout for further acquisitions to add to his packaging empire.

Joining Hart on the list are billionaire brothers Christopher and Richard Chandler, ranked in 701st place with US$1 billion apiece.

The sons of a beekeeper began their road to riches by investing money from the sale of their mother's Hamilton retail store in Hong Kong real estate.

In the mid-1980s the brothers founded investment firm Sovereign Global in Monaco focusing on deals in emerging markets.

Missing this year is Moscow-based banker Stephen Jennings who last September sold a half share of his Renaissance Capital investment bank for US$500 million, a fraction of its pre-credit crunch worth.

Taranaki born and bred Jennings was once described as the "only foreign oligarch in Russia" and last year ranked at No 1014 with US$1.1 billion.

Jennings caused a stir in the lead-up to election by saying New Zealand was losing its young people to other countries because it was no longer a good place to live.