The family fortune was founded on Caxton Pulp & Paper, which was established by John’s grandfather Albert Spencer in 1890 and built into New Zealand’s largest pulp and paper producer by his father Berridge.
The Spencer family has extensive business interests around the world, including real estate in the UK, an 1820ha Waiheke estate including cattle, sheep and olive operations and award-winning vineyard, as well as several islands, including Rangipukea off the Coromandel and parts of Ponui.
The family’s private equity vehicle Windhaven Investments has an extensive portfolio of assets ranging from aged care and retirement living to taxis, payment systems, online education and recruitment.
Recent investments include private label charge card operations, fleet management, linen wholesaling and organic food and homeware retailing.
The family’s property investment company Clime Asset Management is also discrete and it houses assets such as the Man O’War vineyard on Waiheke Island.
John prospered during the stock market boom of the 1980s, topping the NBR Rich List in 1986 and 1987 before suffering heavy losses in the 1987 crash, although he retained a significant amount of his wealth – augmented by an estimated $300 million for selling Caxton to Carter Holt Harvey in 1988.
He passed away in February 2016 and since then the family has maintained a low profile.
Daughter Mertsi – a bed linen distributor and co-director of Man O’ War – has continued to lead her transtasman life without troubling the headlines.
Son Berridge is a hedge fund specialist who divides his time between Hong Kong, the UK and Waiheke.