Flamboyant businesswoman Annette Presley appeared to be out of a job last night after her ex-husband announced she had stepped down from telecommunications company CallPlus.
But the star of television's Dragon's Den, who is holidaying in Fiji, insisted she was staying put.
It is the climax of a heated battle between internet queen Ms Presley and former husband Malcolm Dick over her role in the company they founded together.
Mr Dick struck yesterday morning, sending out a press release saying Ms Presley was quitting her executive role to pursue new opportunities.
Her Dragon's Den commitments and other business interests meant she was not up to date with the business, he said.
Mr Dick said he had been communicating with Ms Presley by email, and had not met her face to face for some time.
Callplus is New Zealand's third-largest fixed-line telephone and internet company, and the NBR Rich List puts the couple's worth at $70 million.
Ms Presley, with her blond hair and bolshie manner, rose to fame as the face of the company's internet arm, Slingshot, and once claimed she would do Telecom chief executive Theresa Gattung's job for $1.
Yesterday she said she was "dumbfounded" by the move against her.
"Certainly I am not stepping down from my role at all ... I am on a boat in Fiji and to say this is unkind and unpolitical is an understatement."
She had no intention of cutting her holiday short to sort out the feud, and would continue in her role when she returned to New Zealand.
Ms Presley and Mr Dick founded Callplus in 1996 and Slingshot in 1999. Ms Presley owns 45 per cent of the company.
The couple split in June.
"I remain as committed to the business as I was then [1996]."
She said the Callplus board, which she chaired, had not made a formal agreement for her to leave.
However, CallPlus chief executive Martin Wylie said he and Ms Presley agreed she should step down as Slingshot spokeswoman because she was not involved in the business much any more.
But Ms Presley disagreed. "I know nothing about it. Martin works for me and I am not stepping down. I pay Martin's salary and I would know if I was stepping down."
Phillips Fox lawyer Sean O'Sullivan said: "It is bizarre. Normally people would get agreement before going out to the public on something as important as this."
Memo ex-wife: The job's over
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