Sir Bob Jones, one of New Zealand’s most colourful and successful business figures, has died at his home in Wellington. He was aged 85.
Since forming a property company 64 years ago, Robert Edward Jones amassed a $2 billion portfolio of commercial buildings in Auckland, Wellington, and Glasgow, Scotland.
Jones was born and raised in a state house in the Hutt Valley suburb of Naenae, and died in a grand home in 20ha grounds overlooking Wellington Harbour and Lower Hutt, with a glorious garden tended by full-time gardeners.
In 1983, he formed the New Zealand Party before Robert Muldoon’s snap election, splitting the National vote and helping the David Lange-led Labour Party to win the 1984 election.
He was a lifelong boxing fan and something of an expert, commentating and writing columns on the sport, and earning a university blue in boxing at Victoria University.
One of Jones’ most famous incidents involved footage showing blood pouring down reporter Rod Vaughan’s face after an enraged Jones collected him with a left hook in Tūrangi in 1985.
Vaughan and cameraman Peter Mayo had choppered into a tranquil spot where Jones was fly fishing in the Tongariro River near his holiday home.
NZ Herald
Legend of the Day
Jones was born and raised in a state house in the Hutt Valley suburb of Naenae, and died in a grand home in 20ha grounds overlooking Wellington Harbour and Lower Hutt, with a glorious garden tended by full-time gardeners.
Related
Face of the Day
His whānau described Rurawhe as a pillar of their family and acknowledged his deep connection to the Rātana faith and its legacy.
Face of the Day
“Barbara Edmonds will be the minister of finance. She is the best qualified person in parliament to be the minister of finance. That is a bottom line. It’s not negotiable” – Hipkins
Face of the Day
“It is a dense economic document, but John Key is a very smart man, so I encourage him to give it a read” – Nicola Willis
Face of the Day
The judge ordered a four-year starting point, two years below what the Crown sought but four months above the defence’s suggestion. He then allowed 50 per cent in reductions for his guilty pleas and for matters related to his drug addiction.
Latest
It’s Long past Time to Bulldoze Them
Universities today haven’t just failed their purpose – they’re failing us all.
Diesel Prices Push Farmers to the Brink
Many of them now find themselves on the brink of quitting because of the immense financial pressure that has been placed upon them.
AI Use Neuters Leftist Newspapers
Massive and unchecked personal bias on the part of these journalists over the course of decades paved the way for the ongoing cheapening of what once was actually considered a ‘profession.’
