Graeme Hart

Graeme Richard Hart (born 6 June 1955) is a New Zealand billionaire businessman and is among the country's richest persons. As of June 2024, his net worth was estimated at NZD$12.1 billion. He was the first New Zealander to be worth NZD$10 billion, topping the NBR Rich List for 20 years. 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$2.7 billion, later renamed Reynolds Packaging Group. He does not directly manage his businesses, and is focused mostly on the financing related to re-capitalisation of the companies. Forbes stated that Hart was the 274th richest person in the world as of March 2022. In 2022, Hart was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame.