Gone but not forgotten is the phrase for Cameron Gregory, one of the co-founders of Metropolitan Glass, who cashed in his chips and eventually followed his life-long dream of an extended overseas holiday.
Gregory reportedly banked $116 million in 2006 after he and fellow Metropolitan Glass founders John Bedogni and Andrew Smith sold the business for $366m. Now called Metro Performance Glass, the NZX-listed company has a market value of just $160m after a putting on a lacklustre performance since its IPO in 2014.
Signalling that it was time to move on, Gregory and his wife Tracey put their swanky Takapuna mansion Chateau de La Sur on the market in 2015 with an asking price of $35m but after protracted negotiations the property was finally sold to fellow Rich Lister Carmel Fisher and her husband for $22 million.
Although there has been no word from Gregory since he left to take an extensive road trip through the US and explore the Mediterranean by boat, he still has a footprint in New Zealand as a director and shareholder in a handful of companies including Ortem Investments and Tempaland Nominees, which own commercial and industrial properties worth $39m.
Perhaps the most interesting investment is a 15% holding in the mysterious Viaduct Port Ltd, an investment company which counts fellow Rich Listers Brendan Lindsay and Michael Reid as shareholders.
According to Companies Office records, the family’s residential address is a $10m property in Belmont on Auckland’s North Shore.