David Richwhite

David MacKellar Richwhite (born 1948) is a New Zealand investment banker and was a partner in Fay, Richwhite & Company with Sir Michael Fay.

Educated at King's College, Auckland and the University of Otago, where he graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, Richwhite's personal wealth was largely acquired during the late 1980s and early 1990s. During this period he had a significant and controversial role in the structural adjustment of the New Zealand economy undertaken by New Zealand's Fourth Labour Government.

Fay, Richwhite & Company was the prime focus of the "Winebox Inquiry" which dealt with, among other things, tax-avoidance arrangements in the Cook Islands. The publicity surrounding the inquiry generated considerable public ill-feeling towards Fay and Richwhite.

Based in Geneva from 1998–2003, Richwhite now lives with his family in London.

David Richwhite and Sir Michael Fay formed Fay Richwhite in 1973 which grew to become one of the leading merchant banks in Australasia during the 1980s and 1990s, with offices in New Zealand, Australia and London.

Whilst their business encompassed the full range of investment banking and trading services across many sectors, Fay Richwhite became most well known for its role in the privatisation of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in New Zealand. During the late 1980s Fay Richwhite advised the New Zealand government on a number of asset sales and ultimately organised and co-invested in consortia which purchased some of these assets including:

Fay Richwhite went on to invest alongside Wisconsin Central, Berkshire Partners and Goldman Sachs in the purchase of four of the five United Kingdom national rail companies being privatised in 1996. Forming English, Welsh & Scottish Railway Ltd (EWS), the company ran 95% of British rail freight until it was sold in 2008.

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