Annette Presley

Annette Sylvia Presley ONZM (born 1964) is a New Zealand telecommunications entrepreneur, known as a co-founder of Slingshot, one of New Zealand's largest internet service providers (as of 2008).

Presley attended McAuley High School,[1] and studied at the Auckland Technical Institute during the 1970s, described by one tutor as "our most successful dropout".[2]

She started her career in accounting, before switching to computer programming in 1980 after prompting from her father.[3] Later she moved on the selling computers before launching an IT recruitment company, Stratum, in 1988.[4]

Future husband Malcolm Dick and Presley met at a golf function in the early 1990s. In 1992 the couple moved to Australia and founded Call Australia, which grew to a $100 million business employing 200 people. They sold the company and returned to New Zealand in 1998.[5]

The pair started CallPlus in 1996, and subsidiary i4free which became Slingshot in 2001. They each held a 45 per cent stake in CallPlus, with chief executive Martin Wylie owning the remaining 10 per cent. Presley became the public face of Slingshot, appearing in the advertising and representing the company in the media, while Dick managed the technical side. During the marriage the couple had two children, Ashley and Brandon, and the couple had been rated by the NBR Rich List having a combined worth of $70 million.

In February 2002 i4free sued Telecom New Zealand for $18,162,342, claiming Telecom's June 1999 decision to force internet users to dial a "0867" prefix had severely limited growth of the company, delaying the launch of the service by nine months.[6] Telecom settled out of court in 2005 after a long-running battle. She stated the result "was enough to remove the grimace from my face, but not to have me breaking into laughter." Over the duration i4free had incurred nearly $1 million in court costs.[7]

From 2004 she regularly appeared in the media alongside other competitors of Telecom demanding the government unbundle the local loop, which eventually became a reality on 9 August 2007. Being one Telecom's most ardent critics, Presley even offered to do former CEO Theresa Gattung's job for $1.[8]

Dick and Presley had an acrimonious marriage break up in 2006, which spilled over into the business when CallPlus announced in September that she was no longer a director.[9] Presley was holidaying in Fiji at the time and had not been informed prior to the announcement.[10]

Presley has appeared on the New Zealand version of the Dragons' Den television show, and was criticised by her Series 1 co-dragon Bob Jones. She supports several charities including Preventing Violence in the Home, Dress for Success and 0Kidz First Children's Hospital.[11]

In April 2015, M2 Group bought Callplus for $250m, representing a significant exit for the shareholders of CallPlus.[12]

As of September 2015, Presley is now helping women in business by funding startups with female founders through the Lightning Lab XX program run by Creative HQ in Wellington, New Zealand.[13]

In the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours, Presley was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and women.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Vision" (PDF). The Breakfast Club (AUT). 2004. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  2. ↑ "Back to the future". Auckland University of Technology. November 2007. Archived from the original on 15 March 2008. Retrieved 11 September 2008.
  3. ↑ "Keynote speaker for the Women in Dairying Conference 2005". Network for Women in Dairying. 12 April 2005. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
  4. ↑ Rotherham, Fiona (1 September 2003). "Calling the shots". Unlimited Magazine. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  5. ↑ "Annette Presley - CallPlus & Slingshot". Women in Technology. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 11 September 2008.
  6. ↑ Barton, Chris (22 February 2002). "i4free hits Telecom with $18m call claim". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  7. ↑ Dann, Liam (10 June 2005). "Telecom settles dispute and dodges court order". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  8. ↑ Keown, Jenny (11 November 2006). "Presley on hold over CallPlus job discussions". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 11 September 2008.
  9. ↑ "CallPlus issue put down to marriage". TVNZ. 27 September 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  10. ↑ "Shots slung in CallPlus boardroom scrap". ninemsn. 26 September 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  11. ↑ "Dining with a Dragon". Her Business Magazine. November 2006. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
  12. ↑ "Determined CallPlus co-founder Annette Presley dares to think big". New Zealand Herald. 27 April 2015. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  13. ↑ "Slingshot founder's startup venture supporting women in business". One News Now. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  14. ↑ "Queen's 90th birthday honours list 2016". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.

External links

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