An Australian judge has been told that the 84-year-old's fall from grace has been radical but the onset of dementia means he did not appreciate how serious the offending was.
Sir Ron Brierley, once a lauded corporate raider, now viewed with contempt. (file photo)
Brierley Investments was once the country’s biggest listed company, its eponymous founder famous for hunting down undervalued companies and selling off their assets for a profit. It’s estimated one in every 20 New Zealanders owned shares in the corporate raider, and it made Sir Ron Brierley very rich, with a wealth consistently estimated well over $100 million, elevating him to the top of the corporate world. Now his reputation is in ruins, after the 83-year-old, who lives in Australia, pleaded guilty on Friday to possessing child sexual abuse material, having been detained attempting to board a flight from Sydney to Fiji in December 2019.