Graeme Hart | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1955 (age 68–69) New Zealand |
| Education | Mount Roskill Grammar School |
| Alma mater | University of Otago |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Spouse | Robyn Jessie Hart |
| Children | 2 |
Graeme Richard Hart (born 1955) is a New Zealand billionaire businessman and the country's richest person.[1] He prefers to stay out of the media and makes few public appearances. As of March 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$9.7 billion.[2]
Much like other leveraged buyout (LBO) private equity investors, Hart has a preference for buying underperforming and undervalued companies with steady cash flows which can be turned around through better cash management, cost-cutting and restructuring with other businesses. Since his 2006 purchase of Carter Holt Harvey he has focused his acquisitions on the paper packaging sector. His largest acquisition to-date was for Alcoa's Packaging & Consumer group in 2008 for US$2.7bn, later renamed Reynolds Packaging Group.[3] He does not directly manage his businesses, and is focused mostly on the financing related to re-capitalization of the companies.
Forbes stated that Hart was the 274th richest person in the world as of March 2022.[2] In 2022, Hart was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame.[4]