Bob Jones (businessman)
| Sir Bob Jones | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Robert Edward Jones 24 November 1939 Lower Hutt, New Zealand |
| Known for | Property investor, author and former politician |
| Political party | New Zealand Party |
| Relatives | Lloyd Jones (brother) |
Sir Robert Edward Jones (born 24 November 1939), known as Sir Bob Jones, is a property investor, author and former politician in New Zealand.
Jones was born in 1939; he is (by 15 years) the older brother of prizewinning author Lloyd Jones.
Growing up in the Lower Hutt suburb of Naenae, Jones attended Naenae College and then Victoria University of Wellington. While a student, he earned a "blue" in boxing and contributed to a boxing column in the university's newspaper Salient. He remained a fan of boxing and sometimes commented on TV on big matches.
Jones earned his wealth through investments in commercial property via his company Robt. Jones Holdings Ltd, and was worth $550 million according to the 2013 NBR rich list, and $600 million a year later.
He formed the short-lived libertarian New Zealand Party in 1983, just before Robert Muldoon's snap 1984 election. Jones explicitly stated his disgust that the supposedly pro-free-enterprise New Zealand National Party had implemented socialist policies like price and wage freezes, and a top tax rate of 66%. His party acted as a spoiler, helping to deliver the government to the New Zealand Labour Party. Then the party implemented free market reforms under Finance Minister Roger Douglas (hence Rogernomics). When the election was over, Jones disbanded the party, seeing that Labour had implemented many of his policies. He and Muldoon had a legal feud, where Muldoon unsuccessfully sued Jones for defamation. But Jones had great respect for Muldoon in other areas. Jones even chaired the farewell dinner on the occasion of Muldoon's retirement from Parliament.
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