Sam Morgan | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Morgan in 2010 | |
| Born | 1975 (age 49–50) |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, Investor |
| Relatives | Gareth Morgan (father) |
Sam Morgan (born 1975) is best known as the founder ofTrade Me, New Zealand's largestonline auction site, which he sold in 2006 to Australian media company Fairfax for over NZ$700 million.
Morgan grew up inWellington, New Zealand, with his fathereconomistGareth Morgan and mother Jo Morgan a local bus driver.[1] He attended Newtown School,Rongotai College andVictoria University of Wellington before opting out in 1995.
Morgan worked for IT consultancyDeloitte before leaving to start upTrade Me in 1999. Trade Me kept him very busy and at one point he was living 200 metres from the main office on Wellington Waterfront. On March 6, 2006,John Fairfax Holdings agreed to buy Trade Me for NZ$700 million, plus another NZ$50 million if financial targets were met over the next two years. Sam Morgan received $227 million (excluding future bonuses), making him one of the richest people in New Zealand overnight.
Morgan is now an investor and advisor to a number of start-up businesses and is also involved with several not-for-profit organisations includingMedicine Mondiale andOne Acre Fund. He was a co-founder of thePacific Fibre project, and majority owner and chairman of vWorkApp, a cloud-based dispatch and scheduling product.[2] He is a director ofTrade Me,[3]Xero (software)[4] andVend (software).[5]
In 2010 Morgan was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of theNew Zealand Computer Society (HFNZCS).
In 2006, following the sale of Trade Me, Morgan founded and endowed Jasmine Social Investments, aprivate foundation focused onhigh impact philanthropy.[6][7] As at 2014, he had around 20 philanthropic projects, a number of them focused on alleviating the effects of poverty.[8]