Nicholas James Mowbray (born March 1985) is a New Zealand entrepreneur and businessman. Together with his brother Mat, he is the co-founder of toy and consumer products manufacturer

Zuru Zuru is a Local Government Area in Kebbi State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Zuru. It is also the Headquarters of Zuru Emirate. The Emirate comprises four local government areas, namely: Wasagu/Danko, Fakai, Sakaba and Zuru. ...

Early life

Mowbray grew up in

Cambridge, New Zealand Cambridge () is a town in the Waipā District of the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. Situated southeast of Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, on the banks of the Waikato River, Cambridge is known as "The Town of Trees & Champi ...

, and was educated at St Peter's School. His parents owned a dairy farm and Matangi dairy factory. As a teenager, he helped his elder brother Mat to manufacture hot air balloons from Coke cans and plastic bags. After school, he started a law degree but dropped out in his first year.

Zuru

In 2003, when the brothers were 18 and 22, they moved to Hong Kong to set up a toy factory. With a loan from their parents, they purchased an

injection molding machine An injection molding machine (also spelled injection moulding machine in BrE), also known as an injection press, is a machine for manufacturing plastic products by the injection molding process. It consists of two main parts, an ''injection ...

and started a company in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, China. The Mowbrays regard their entrance into the business world as naïve, as they had no experience, could not speak the local language, and had no knowledge of

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

legislation. In 2005, the brothers were joined by their sister

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

in their business. The initial name of their company was Guru and this was changed to Zuru as Guru had been trademarked by another company. According to Mowbray, by the end of 2020 Zuru employed 8500 people, had 26 offices, and a turnover of over $1 billion. Successful toys were Robo Fish (the world's fastest selling toy in 2013) and Bunch O Balloons (the top selling toy in the United States for three months in 2016). In 2018, Mowbray was awarded New Zealand Entrepreneur Of The Year by multinational professional services network

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

Personal

Aged 26, Mowbray developed

Crohn's disease Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, abdominal distension, and weight loss. Complications outside of the ...

. In his early 30s, he moved back to New Zealand to undergo operations after he was told that without treatment, he only had a few years to live. The siblings bought Coatesville mansion in Coatesville in 2017 for NZ$32.5 million when they were in their early 30s. The mansion is one of New Zealand's most expensive homes and is famous for the January 2012 raid when

Kim Dotcom Kim Dotcom (né Schmitz; born 21 January 1974), also known as Kimble and Kim Tim Jim Vestor, is a Finnish-German Internet entrepreneur and political activist who lives in Glenorchy, New Zealand. He rose to fame in Germany in the 1990s as a ha ...

lived there. According to the ''

National Business Review ''National Business Review'' (or ''NBR'') is one of New Zealand's business news publishing websites. The NBR has focused on delivering breaking business news and analysis since its founding in 1970. NBR is known for its independent journalism f ...

'', the net worth of the siblings is NZ$3bn. In late 2020, Mowbray bought a yacht for NZ$21m.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mowbray, Nick New Zealand manufacturing businesspeople New Zealand billionaires People educated at St Peter's School, Cambridge Living people 1985 births