Millionaire selling his private beaches

Terrie Lloyd's slice of paradise is for sale. Photo / Supplied

A high school dropout turned millionaire businessman is selling his slice of Godzone to invest in Japan's lucrative post-quake recovery.

Terrie Lloyd's 19-hectare estate in Doubtless Bay, four hours north of Auckland, was listed by Bayleys last week.

The father-of-five would not disclose how much he wanted for his impressive waterfront property near Mangonui but a slightly larger waterfront estate in nearby Russell was on the market for $8.75 million.

Lloyd left New Zealand aged 19 after becoming dissatisfied with his job as a TV repairman's apprentice in the Bay of Plenty.

"I was living in a caravan and living off apples and muesli because I had no money. It was good character-building, looking back," Lloyd said.

He arrived in Japan on a holiday visa, unable to speak the language, but went on to take the Asian high-tech world by storm.

He is chief executive of Tokyo-based technology companies Japan Inc and Linc Media.

Despite his success, Lloyd said it had been hard for foreigners to get involved with big business deals - until after the March quake and tsunami.

"The earthquake has catalysed a lot of things," he said. "Normally I'd tap the local market for funds. But at the moment there are none. I need liquid capital."

Lloyd's Northland property is surrounded by manuka bush and rolling grassland and comes with two pohutukawa-fringed private beaches.

It has a luxurious two-bedroom bach that can be opened up on one side to take in the million-dollar views.

He bought it 12 years ago and his Japanese wife Kumiko and three youngest daughters lived there for four years while they built the house.