Sam Morgan | |
|---|---|
 Morgan in 2010 | |
| Born | 1975 (age 46–47) Wellington, New Zealand |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, Investor |
| Relatives | Gareth Morgan (father) |
Sam Morgan (born 1975) is best known as the founder of Trade Me, New Zealand's largest online auction site, which he sold in 2006 to Australian media company Fairfax for over NZ$700 million.
Morgan grew up in Wellington, New Zealand, with his father economist Gareth Morgan and mother Jo Morgan a local bus driver. [1] He attended Newtown School, Rongotai College and Victoria University of Wellington before opting out in 1995.
Morgan worked for IT consultancy Deloitte before leaving to start up Trade Me in 1999. Trade Me kept him very busy and at one point he was living 200 metres from the main office on Wellington Waterfront. On March 6, 2006, John Fairfax Holdings agreed to buy Trade Me for NZ$700 million, plus another NZ$50 million if financial targets were met over the next two years. Sam Morgan received $227 million (excluding future bonuses), making him one of the richest people in New Zealand overnight.
Morgan is now an investor and advisor to a number of start-up businesses and is also involved with several not-for-profit organisations including Medicine Mondiale and One Acre Fund. He was a co-founder of the Pacific Fibre project, and majority owner and chairman of vWorkApp, a cloud-based dispatch and scheduling product. [2] He is a director of Trade Me, [3] Xero (software) [4] and Vend (software). [5]
In 2010 Morgan was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the New Zealand Computer Society (HFNZCS).
In 2006, following the sale of Trade Me, Morgan founded and endowed Jasmine Social Investments, a private foundation focused on high impact philanthropy. [6] [7] As at 2014, he had around 20 philanthropic projects, a number of them focused on alleviating the effects of poverty. [8]
Kiwibank Limited is a New Zealand state-owned bank and financial services provider with approximately 4% of market share in terms of assets. The New Zealand Government owns the bank via the New Zealand Post, the Accident Compensation Corporation and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. Kiwibank provides some of its banking services through its PostShops and more recently through financial services only branches as well. The company's Board of Directors was chaired by former New Zealand Prime Minister Jim Bolger from 2001–2010. The current Chair of the Board of Directors is Jon Hartley.
David Edward Kirk is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He is best known for having been the captain of the All Blacks when they won the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987.
Trade Me is New Zealand's largest online auction and classifieds website. Managed by Trade Me Ltd., the site was founded in 1999 by New Zealand entrepreneur Sam Morgan, who sold it to Fairfax in 2006 for NZ$700 million. Trade Me was publicly listed as a separate entity on 13 December 2011 under the ticker "TME". In May 2019, Trade Me was acquired by private equity firm Apax Partners for NZ$2.56 billion. Trade Me Ltd also operates several sister websites including FindSomeone and Holiday Houses.
Rodney Kenneth Drury is a New Zealand technology entrepreneur, predominately known for his association with accounting software company, Xero. Drury was CEO of Xero until 2018, after founding the company in 2006.
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Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased The Sydney Morning Herald in 1841. The Fairfax family retained control of the business until late in the 20th century.
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vWorkApp is an online dispatch and job scheduling software for medium to large businesses. The product is sold and distributed over the Internet using a distribution model commonly known as cloud computing.
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Jasmine Social Investments is a New Zealand-based private foundation started by the entrepreneur Sam Morgan in 2006 following the sale of his company Trade Me to Fairfax Media.
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PledgeMe is a Wellington, New Zealand-based crowdfunding platform which offers project and equity crowdfunding.
Kounta is an Australian software company founded in 2012. The company's flagship product, Kounta, comprises a cloud based point of sale mobile app.
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The 2016 Canon Media Awards were hosted by the New Zealand Newspaper Publishers' Association on Friday 20 May 2016 at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington, New Zealand. The Newspaper of the Year was The New Zealand Herald, and the Reporter of the Year was Matt Nippert of The New Zealand Herald.
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