For a man who left school at 15 with, as he put it, “too much attitude in one pocket and not a cent in the other,” Graeme Hart’s award of an honorary doctorate by Otago University this year was a big moment.
The degree was in commerce, naturally, and bookended an MBA from Otago in 1988 he credits as pivotal in his business career.
Called upon to speak to graduating students at the ceremony in February, Mr Hart shared some life lessons and offered a rare public glimpse into the thinking that shaped his career.
It begins with a vision of a staircase, he said.
“What I have in my mind is a face at the top. And it’s a big face with a big smile, and that’s your face at the end of your 40-year career.”
Mr Hart’s first step was on his 15th birthday at Mt Roskill Grammar in Auckland.
“I went to the school to be told by the career guidance counsellor that it would be to our mutual benefit if I left school, that day. So I did.”
After famously driving tow trucks and working as a panel beater, he started his first business aged 18 with the help of a loan from his father.
That first printing business was a small step but it was influential in a much bigger step when Mr Hart bought the Government Printing Office in 1990 – the deal that launched him into the big league.
Mr Hart had competition for the business but the government chose to sell to him.
“Why was I the buyer? Because I used to own a printing company,” he said.
Here’s the lesson: “When you deal with people in your life, sometimes they have a profile of what they want you to look like. Work out what that is – and fit it.”
After the Printing Office came Burns Philp, Goodman Fielder, Carter Holt Harvey and Beverage Packaging, now the cornerstone of Mr Hart’s global packaging enterprise Reynolds Group.
Burns Philp was the big test of Mr Hart’s mettle. His company Rank Group bought into Burns Philp in 1997 but the ASX-listed food products company was in much worse shape than he thought.
“So there we were, left with Burns Philp, a bunch of angry banks, and a two-year exercise, selling assets, restructuring and recapitalising.
“That was a very, very tough time,” he said, but it was a good lesson.
“A little bruising teaches you how to fight ...
“The other thing I learned is when you’ve made an error of judgment, put your head down, your shoulder to the wheel and your ego in the back pocket.”
The hard work paid off for Mr Hart, who turned the company around and a few years later used it to launch a takeover for food giant Goodman Fielder.
As he advised the graduates in Dunedin: “Be bold. That means buy as big as you can, borrow as much as you can, and then work the asset as hard as you can.”
Reynolds Group, Rank’s current main interest, fits the bill.
In February Reynolds reported revenue of $US10.5 billion for the year to December delivering a net profit of $US439 million, all from a balance sheet geared at 87%.
Mr Hart’s private interests include large property holdings on Waiheke Island and houses near the ski resorts of Queenstown and Aspen.
This year he also took delivery of a 116m superyacht, built in Norway and fitted out in Bremerhaven – the latest of his vessels to bear the Ulysses name. The ship is equipped for long expeditions and its luxurious accommodation for 66 people includes a helipad.
Mr Hart’s philanthropic activities are focused on education and children’s health. He and his wife Robyn have been described as “quiet but generous philanthropists.”
Causes they support include the Starship Hospital, Children of Fiji and children of Pine Ridge Indian reservation in South Dakota.
The Harts have two children, Gretchen and Harry, and four grandchildren.
Last month Harry and his father revealed their new company – Walter & Wild – had bought Hubbards Foods, Hansells and Gregg’s sauces. The acquisition combines some of New Zealand’s best-known food brands into a food manufacturing powerhouse.