NZME billionaire coup: Union says question it asked Jim Grenon was a simple one

Tuesday, 25 March 2025

The Canadian-born billionaire seeking to replace the board of media firm NZME is deflecting on the question of whether he would respect its editorial independence, the E tū says.

Union negotiator Michael Wood says E tū expects to respond later this week to a letter from Jim Grenon seeking its views on what the term meant.

Grenon, who owns 10% of NZME, appears at least within striking distance of garnering sufficient votes at the company’s annual meeting on April 29 to seize boardroom control of the firm for himself and three other directors he has nominated.

Grenon has said he wants NZME, which owns the New Zealand Herald and about half the country’s commercial radio stations, to appeal to “a wider political spectrum”.

One shareholder who is backing Grenon is Troy Bowker, a wealthy Kiwi who has been a vociferous opponent of a capital gains tax.

Grenon has said the main driver for the attempted boardroom coup is dissatisfaction with the company’s operational performance.

Matt Booker, portfolio asset manager at Australian investor Spheria Asset Management, which is NZME’s largest shareholder with a 19% holding, appears to have accepted that and is anticipating Spheria will support Grenon’s resolutions at the annual meeting.

“Anyone who thinks that he's not there to make money for himself and the rest of the shareholders would be kidding themselves,” Booker said, noting Grenon had invested nearly $20m into his own shareholding.

Booker has joined Grenon in querying the remuneration of NZME chief executive Michael Boggs.

“He got paid $2.8 million in 2023. That's a lot of money relative to what the journalists are earning,” he said.

But Wood told The Post that “to anyone who has eyes to see” it was clear that there were additional factors at play, other than NZME’s commercial performance.

E tū wrote to Grenon to seek assurances on the matter of editorial independence, but said that what it received back was “a spray of other issues”, which it viewed as “a classic PR tactic to deflect and avoid answering a direct question”.

Grenon had publicly said that he believes that there are limits on editorial independence, Wood said.

He noted Grenon had advised NZME that as a “very active” chairperson of NZME he would intend to “delve into operational detail”, which Wood said it was reasonable to assume meant what was happening in the newsroom.

The Post has invited Grenon to discuss his world view and interest in the media.