If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, as the saying goes, Nigel Stanford must have been positively red-cheeked earlier this year.
A brilliant musician and tech-whiz, Stanford became the latest in a long line of people whose ideas appear to have been appropriated by Chinese tech giant Huawei. This time it wasn’t technology but a music video: Huawei’s ad for its MediaPad M3 Lite appeared to mirror the video for Stanford’s Cymatics: Science Vs. Music, both musically and visually.
After Stanford pointed out the similarities online the ad disappeared. Yet the episode showed just how influential and respected the Wellington musician has become. He’s been on a high since the release of his album Automatica in 2017, an electronic opus that came out to glowing reviews and widespread online reach. Last April the album’s second single One Hundred Hunters was released, with its music video using recently released NASA footage from 1960s and 1970s Apollo and Gemini space missions. Like the album’s first single, also called Automatica – the video of which received 30 million views across Facebook, Youtube and Vimeo – it also proved popular online.
Though music is Stanford’s first love, his technological knowhow and business acumen are primarily responsible for his fortune. He helped Sam Morgan set up Trade Me, and was richly rewarded when the auction site sold to Fairfax in 2008. He also holds a 20% share in online retailer Mighty Ape, as well as a third of Wellington-based talent agency StarNow.
Stanford lives in Wellington and New York.
2018: $160 million