Sir Richard Carter, the sawmiller-forester who became the head of a New Zealand commercial giant, has died. He was 75.
With twin brother Ken, he helped to engineer a merger that created Carter Holt Harvey, but said his true ambition had been to run the family farm.
Sir Richard was born in Palmerston North in April 1935 and brought up in Rangataua at the foot of Mt Ruapehu.
He studied accountancy at the University of Auckland while working for the family business Carter Consolidated.
Under Sir Richard and Ken Carter, a series of aquisitions produced Carter Holt Harvey, the third-biggest company on the New Zealand Stock Exchange by the early 1990s.
The brothers sold it to the American International Paper Company in 1992, the same year Sir Richard was knighted for services to business management.
He was later inducted into the Business Hall of Fame and made a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Directors.
In a death notice on Monday, his family said he passed away peacefully on 6 January.
Sir Richard's funeral will be held at Paparimu, south of Auckland City, on Thursday.
