Tony Falkenstein - A World Class New Zealander

The World Class New Zealand Awards are a New Zealand Trade and Enterprise initiative delivered by KEA New Zealand which honour those successful New Zealanders who have significantly contributed to the country’s growth and development, adding to our international reputation. This year some of New Zealand’s most outstanding innovators and entrepreneurs who are committed to boosting and developing New Zealand’s global reputation have been recognised in these Awards.

The recipient of the 2012 World Class New Zealand Awards for New Thinking is Tony Falkenstein, founder of Just Water which he floated as a publicly-listed company in 2005 and which is now a major player in the New Zealand and Australian markets. Tony has been a leading CEO for over thirty years of subsidiaries of multinational companies, two NZX-listed companies and, for the past 25 years, of his family company, Red Eagle Corporation Limited. He was instrumental in instituting New Zealand’s first secondary-level business school at Onehunga High School with the goal of introducing a business course as a subject in the national curriculum. Tony also helped establish the $10 million AUT Venture Fund, with the purpose of inspiring students to start business ventures in combination with their studies.

In 2001 he acquired Bartercard New Zealand, a company that has since grown rapidly which an annual trading turnover in excess of $250 million. Tony’s other business interests include Buro Seating, a leader in the seating industry operating in New Zealand and Australia, Boyd Visuals, a video conferencing and multi-media projector company and Rondit Holdings Limited which has commercial property interests.
In 2008 Tony was inducted into the Fairfax New Zealand Business Hall of Fame and was appointed as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2010 for his services to business. In 2009 he coordinated the New Zealand Entrepreneurial Summit which invited 100 entrepreneurs with 100 ideas for a discussion on how to improve the country’s productivity.

Tony is passionate about business education as the key to New Zealand’s economic prosperity and is on the advisory board of the University of Auckland Business School and AUT University Business School. He is the only New Zealander listed in “The New Philanthropists’ by international author, Charles Handy, who included a chapter on Tony as the modern philanthropist.

If you would like to find out more about Tony’s company Just water you can go to their website at www.justwater.co.nz . Just Water is the recognised industry leader in providing drinking-water and filtration systems for the workplace and at home.