NBA star Steven Adams was one of those new entrants, with an estimated worth of $200m, although he had previously featured on the list in 2018.
Steven Adams has a three-year deal with the Rockets. Photo / Getty Images
Businesswoman Skipp Williamson has joined the list with an estimated worth of $300m. Williamson sold her firm, Partners in Performance, in 2024 to global consulting firm Accenture for a reported $450m, according to the Australian.
The wealthiest newcomer, Canadian-born film producer James Cameron – who is now officially a Kiwi – has been valued at $1.6b. He has also previously been on the list.
Eleven of the 19 newcomers this year are in the tech and services category.
Among them are the Stewart family, founders of Calder Stewart, Craig Piggott (Halter), Alex Kendall (autonomous vehicle developer Wayve), Lawrence Railton (Apparel Studios), Paul Copplestone (Supabase) and Dave Ferguson (Nuro).
Also returning to the list this year are Auckland investor Tim Edney, Bill and Jim Speedy, Bruce Miller and Matt Walsh, and the Faull family.
Overall, there are 150 individuals, families and duos on the list with a combined worth of $129b.
The number of billionaires rose to 26, up from 18 last year.
Former richest New Zealander Graeme Hart, who has built a packaging empire, retained second spot with an estimated net worth of $14.1b, up from $12.1b last year.
Also featuring in the top 10, film-makers Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh, who slipped one spot to sixth with a worth of $2.6b.
Tech entrepreneur and Xero founder Rod Drury remains in the top 10, but NBR this year marked his wealth down from $2.1b to $1.8b.
NBR also profiled 20 of New Zealand’s wealthiest women, who include Herald columnist and Tend founder, Cecilia Robinson, Sharndre Kushor (Crimson), media personality Dame Julie Christie, Naomi Ballantyne (ex-Partners Life) and Carmel Fisher (Fisher Funds).
Lucy Liu is New Zealand’s richest individual woman at $1b, up from $700m last year.
Siblings and Zuru co-founders Nick (far left), Anna and Mat Mowbray.
Anna Mowbray is the second richest individual woman with a net worth of around $500m.
Mowbray and her partner Ali Williams are co-owners of football side Auckland FC, with billionaire American businessman Bill Foley.
Entrepreneur Victoria Ransom, who featured last year, did not make the 2026 list of wealthy women.
NBR Rich List editor Hamish McNicol said there have been several notable capital raises for New Zealand-based and New Zealand-founded tech firms over the last 12 months.
“Many talk up New Zealand’s opportunity to become a tech-export hub, and there is a lot of momentum in the sector to build on,” he said.
McNicol said the Rich List has chronicled the evolution of wealth in New Zealand for 40 years.
“In 40 years, the number of profiles has nearly tripled, while the collective wealth has increased 23-fold,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Green Party took aim at the accumulation of wealth of this year’s rich-listers.
“One hundred and fifty people and dynasties recorded a $27 billion increase in their wealth as homelessness reached a record high and a third of families suffer food insecurity. These things are connected,” Green Party co-leader Chloe Swarbrick said.
“Our economy is bigger than it’s ever been, and it’s being hoovered up, not trickling down. The wealthiest 150 people now own as much as half of the rest of the country.”
Swarbrick said the Greens will announce their election policy this week to “fix the tax system”, ensuring “the super-rich contribute their fair share to the society they profit from”.