Google billionaire Page
Billionaire Google co-founder Larry Page visited New Zealand amid Covid-19 border restrictions after his child fell ill in Fiji, Stuff can reveal.
Kiwi businessman and philanthropist Sir Stephen Tindall, who knows Page personally, confirmed Page visited New Zealand because his young child required hospital treatment in Auckland. Page, who is reportedly spending the pandemic in Fiji, has since left New Zealand, Tindall said.
Page, who founded Google with Sergey Brin in the 1990s, is the world’s sixth-richest person with a reported wealth of US$121 billion (NZ$171 billion).
Various details of the visit, including where Page stayed, whether he spent two weeks in a managed isolation facility and the grounds on which he was granted entry across New Zealand’s closed border, remain a mystery. Immigration and internal affairs ministers won’t comment and the Government refused to say whether Page was a citizen.
Immigration New Zealand border and visa operations general manager Nicola Hogg said in a statement: ‘‘Immigration New
Zealand can confirm Larry Page met relevant requirements to be approved entry to New Zealand.’’
It is unclear on what grounds Page was granted entry.
New Zealand borders remain closed to most travellers because of Covid-19. Immigration NZ said Page was not a permanent resident.
An immigration spokeswoman would not answer further questions without a privacy waiver from the reclusive billionaire, including whether he underwent