Hamish Kennedy started a fruit-sorting company from the basement of his student flat because he didn’t want to get a regular job.
That was 30 years ago, and the instinct paid off. In 2017 his company Compac was sold to Norwegian-listed Tomra for $67 million.
Kennedy completed a master’s degree in electrical engineering after growing up on a kiwifruit orchard. He saw the rapidly expanding kiwifruit market lacked a fruit sorting machine that would be faster and more accurate than conventional fruit grading machines available at the time.
So, he built one in the basement of his student flat, which led to him building a global business from Auckland sorting a range of fruit.
Kennedy was named 2015 EY Entrepreneur of the Year in the technology category.
His property interests include a house in Auckland’s Mt Eden and a neighbouring property that are valued at about $6 million combined.
2018: $60 million