Summer reissue: Todd Scott made millions as a sales genius, and bought New Zealand’s best-known business publication. Then he lost his house. Duncan Greive profiles the country’s most enigmatic owner, and hears some blunt criticisms from the old friend he bought the paper off, Barry Colman. First published June 2 2020 Independent journalism depends on … Read more
Todd Scott made millions as a sales genius, and bought New Zealand’s best-known business publication. Then he lost his house. Duncan Greive profiles the country’s most enigmatic owner, and hears some blunt criticisms from the old friend he bought the paper off, Barry Colman. When Sinead Boucher bought Stuff for $1 last week, it brought … Read more
The weight of Covid-19 will be very unequally distributed. Duncan Greive writes about where it will land, and how those it hits might come out from under it. This is the second of a two part series – read the first here There’s a graph I keep thinking about which shows the potential strangeness of … Read more
The NBR’s Rich List is always a big day for New Zealand’s wealthy elite. So who’s on it, who’s up, who’s down, and how did they get there? Here are 10 things we learned. Technology still isn’t a golden ticket. Among the top 50 entries, there are a grand total of four tech entries. And of … Read more
David Cohen remembers a man admired and loved by his colleagues in the media, in politics, and beyond. Journalists and other public figures spent Wednesday expressing their sadness amid the news that Rob Hosking, a senior political reporter and wry commentator for the NBR and other news outlets, had died of cancer. Rob, a former … Read more
A just-released cache of Nielsen data shows the impact a series of Facebook algorithm changes has had on New Zealand’s online media (spoiler: it’s not great). “How’s your traffic been?” a friend who works at one of the big media companies asked me recently, and even in asking we both knew the answer. It was … Read more
Today, the National Business Review, New Zealand’s most prestigious and weirdly-run business publication, published its annual Rich List. If you’re interested but not interested enough to subscribe, here are our biggest takeaways. 1. Graham Hart is way richer than Peter Thiel Like, wayyyy richer. Two-and-a-half times richer. Putting aside how weird it feels to see … Read more
New Zealand’s blue-chip business newspaper is these days chiefly an online operation, and its owner has plans to boost the subscriber base to 100,000. Against a backdrop of social media grenades and staff disquiet, Spinoff business editor Rebecca Stevenson talks to the NBR’s outspoken head honcho Todd Scott. Todd Scott is a truculent tweeter, taking … Read more
‘I shan’t bother writing any more for NBR,’ says Sir Bob Jones after his piece calling for Māori gratitude is deleted from the paper’s website. Toby Manhire and Duncan Greive report. Bob Jones will be filing no more for the National Business Review after the deletion of his most recent contribution, which included a call … Read more