Time to really change NZ

Rich Lister Tony Falkenstein is pretty relaxed about the fact that there will be a few million dollars less beside his name in this year's Rich List.

Last year he was worth around $60m, but that figure has dropped this year.

Shares in Just Water, of which he is a major shareholder and chief executive, have dropped in value from about 70c last year to 40c.

Falkenstein owns about 70 per cent of the company. But he shrugs off the recession, saying he's been busy buying surplus Just Water shares and running Bartercard, his privately owned company, which ticked along before the recession but has been booming since.

Now Falkenstein has tradesmen offering their services on Bartercard and companies wanting to sell "big ticket items" quickly.

While he admits the recession does affect business, including orders for Just Water, Falkenstein doesn't believe it does any good to be "super negative".

In March he threw a "recession bash" at his Mission Bay home, a stylish upbeat party to celebrate his and his daughter's birthdays.

"I think New Zealand is one of the best places to be in the world at the moment."

That's not to say he isn't cautious. Falkenstein says he doesn't have a "bach, boat or BMW" and even though he might be able to afford a new car he won't be buying one just yet. It just doesn't seem right, he says.

Last month he accompanied 15 Onehunga High Business School students to New York, part of a push to get business studies included in the national curriculum.

Falkenstein gave two million Just Water shares to the school when the company was floated, providing it with a dividend of about $80,000 a year to use for business projects.

His "excitement" at the moment is for the Entrepreneurial Summit in Auckland on May 21, at which 100 Kiwi entrepreneurs will present 100 ideas, the best five of which will be presented to Prime Minister John Key.

"We have got some ideas that are going to blow New Zealand away," he said. "It's in times like this that we can really change ourselves as a country."