Spud king sprouts $150m
Alan Pye, the ‘‘spud king’’ of South Canterbury, is worth $350 million in this year’s National Business Review rich list – $150m more than last year.
‘‘They used to have me on the list at $200m but I was dropped off last year for some unknown reason. Now I’ve made a comeback at $350m,’’ he said.
Pye is one of the more unusual multi-millionaires to be included in the ‘‘bible of wealth’’ published on Thursday – happiest when driving a combine harvester on one of his many farms.
For an entrepreneur who says he seldom sells anything, Pye did quite well 18 months ago when he disposed of his $100m shareholding in one of the country’s largest dairy enterprises, Dairy Holdings.
‘‘I guess you could say I’ve had a couple of wins lately,’’ he said.
So how wealthy does he think he is?
‘‘It’s sort of hard to know. It depends how things are going. I told the reporter who rang me it could be $400m or it could be $100m, but probably closer to $300m.’’
The Pye family fortune straddles the Tasman with sons in Australia who supply tonnes of vegetables from their farms there.
Other South Canterbury residents, and those with links to the area, on this year’s list include high tech dairy farm owners Aad and Wilma van Leeuwen. The van Leeuwens debuted on the Rich List in 2015 with an estimated wealth of $65m, which dropped to an estimated $60m this year.
Rooney Group owner Gary Rooney’s estimated wealth was unchanged, remaining at an estimated $115m, the same as in 2015.
Last November, it was announced Rooney had pledged $1m to help Craighead Diocesan School, where his daughter, Natalie, had been a student, to build its new gym complex.
Earlier this year his company, Rooney Earthmoving, helped bring the $32m Waihao Downs irrigation project in on time and under budget.
The Turley family, which includes Farmers Mill chairman Murray Turley, also made the list again with an estimated worth of $140m, up from $135m in 2015.
South Canterbury-born farmer Forbes Elworthy’s estimated wealth dropped from $120m in 2015 to $50m this year. He told NBR last year’s estimate had been overstated.
The owners of a 2.2 hectare dry goods store near Timaru’s port are also on the list. Norak Properties owners Barry and Diane Rissetto, of Auckland, put the massive warehouse on the market in May 2015.
The property, which had a 2014 rating valuation of $15.425 million, failed to attract a buyer for several months.
At the time, Colliers International national director Greg Goldfinch declined to comment on how many inquiries the agency had received from potential buyers of the property, which was leased to Fonterra.
Norak Properties also tried unsuccessfully to have Colliers sell the property for about $15 million in 2011.
Port company PrimePort built the warehouse for Fonterra in 2005, leasing it back for 15 years with rights of renewal running until 2038.
The port company then sold the property for $7.1 million to Norak Properties and Laris Properties, retaining the head lease over the site.
Norak Properties later bought out the half share of Laris Properties.
Meadow Mushrooms founder Philip Burdon’s estimated wealth of $85m remained unchanged from 2015.