Diane Foreman

Diane Shirley Foreman is a New Zealand businesswoman. In 2012 Foreman was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business. She was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame in 2024.

Early life and education

Foreman was born in 1960 or 1961 to a teenage mother, and was adopted into a working-class family. She says that they didn't value education for girls, "I was told that education for girls was unnecessary and all you needed was straight teeth and an ability to type". Foreman left school at 15 and worked as a shorthand typist. Foreman managed the sale of the company. The couple set up an investment company, Emerald Group, which had real estate, recruitment, hotel, and food components.

In 2015 Foreman published In the Arena, a book on entrepreneurship.

Honours and awards

In 2009 Foreman was named Ernst & Young's New Zealand Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2018 Foreman was awarded a NEXT Woman of the Year: Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2024 she was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame.

Foreman married broadcaster Paul Henry in 2020.