Billionaire Julian Robertson, who developed the Kauri Cliffs golf course in Northland, has died aged 90. Photo / file

'Part-Kiwi': Billionaire philanthropist with big links to NZ dies

Author: NZ Herald ,
Publish Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2022, 2:47PM

Billionaire philanthropist Julian Robertson has died, age 90.

Robertson died in New York from "cardiac complications", his spokesman told Reuters.

Robertson considered himself part-Kiwi - and this country returned the affection with an honorary knighthood in 2009.

US-born Robertson developed a love affair with New Zealand during a visit in 1979 and invested and donated millions of dollars to New Zealand over his life.

Of that trip, Robertson has said: "My wife and I kind of dropped out and went to New Zealand in 1979 and we came back with another child we hadn't expected to have, made in New Zealand."

Julian Robertson died in New York. Photo / file

On his return to the United States he started the Tiger Management Fund, one of the earliest - and most successful - hedge funds.

In 1995, he bought a slice of the landscape he had so admired - a sheep farm near Matauri Bay on which he developed Kauri Cliffs championship golf course and luxury lodge, marking the family's first foray into the luxury hospitality industry.

His family also owns Matakauri Lodge near Queenstown, and The Farm at Cape Kidnappers, Hawke's Bay, which also features a spectacular golf course.

Robertson also owned Dry River, a vineyard in the Wairarapa.

The golf course at Kauri Cliffs, Northland, which Julian Robertson developed.

In 2004, Robertson and his wife established the Aotearoa Foundation, which has as its aim to make high-impact grants in New Zealand in education, conservation and environmental stewardship, and medical research.

In 2010, the year his wife died, Robertson signed The Giving Pledge, an initiative by software mogul Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett, in which the wealthy would pledge at least half their assets to charity.

Forbes estimated Robertson's net worth at US$4.8 billion ($7.41b).

Robertson donated an art collection valued at $115 million, including works by Pablo Picasso, Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse and Salvador Dali, to the Auckland Art Gallery.

The Auckland Art Gallery described Robertson's donated works as "among the most generous philanthropic acts in New Zealand history".