James Grenon

James Terrence Omer Grenon is a Canadian-New Zealand private equity investor and billionaire, who is the founder of Canadian investment company Tom Capital Management and director of the media company New Zealand Media and Entertainment. He also formerly owned the alternative media publications Centrist and NZ News Essentials (NZNE).

Early life and education Jim Grenon completed a Bachelor of law at the University of Manitoba in 1980. He briefly worked as a lawyer before pursuing a career in corporate and financial equity.

Business career Tom Capital Management and tax litigation In 1995, Grenon founded a Calgary-based investment company called Tom Capital Management. The company took an interest in oil, gas, financial services, manufacturing and the real estate sectors.

Media ventures

In 2022, Grenon launched two alternative media websites called NZ News Essential (NZNE) and Centrist to challenged perceived mainstream media bias. The Centrist had initially been founded as JTG3 Ltd, which was registered between 2016 and 2019. In March 2023, JTG3 Ltd was renamed The Centrist Ltd. Grenon was the Centrist sole shareholder and director until 27 June and 2 August 2023, when he was succeeded by Tameem Adam Abdul-majeed Barakat, who is also from Canada. Grenon and Barakat had also appeared in social media videos from influencer Chantelle Baker's media outfit Operation People.

By September 2023, NZNE had 3,500 followers on Facebook and 2,600 followers on X (formerly Twitter). NZNE's social media accounts have published posts attacking DEI programmes, co-governance and questioning whether colonialism was responsible for the poor outcomes of Māori people.

The Centrist has also offered to pay readers' legal fees. In addition, the Centrist has supported "Stop Co-Governance" founder Julian Batchelor's defamation lawsuit against public broadcaster TVNZ and disinformation researcher Sanjana Hattotuwa. In late March 2026, Justice David Clark of the Auckland District Court dismissed Batchelor's case against TVNZ and Hattotuwa, with Grenon liable to pay Batchelor's legal fees. Clark also directed that a case management conference be held on 3 April 2026 to discuss whether Grenon wanted to be heard in Batchelor's case. On 28 May 2026, Clark rejected Grenon's lawyer Chris Patterson's bid to suppress media coverage of his client's involvement in Batchelor's lawsuit, citing "genuine public interest" in the case. On 3 July 2026, Clark rejected Patterson's argument that Grenon should not pay costs and ordered Grenon and Batchelor to pay $128,818.65 to TVNZ and $107,137 to Hattotuwa in legal costs. Clark also ordered the plaintiffs to pay further costs for additional submissions. He ruled that Grenon had instigated Batchelor's legal proceedings against TVNZ and Hattotuwa, and had sought to hide his involvement.

2025 NZME takeover bid On 3 March 2025, Grenon bought a 9.3 percent stake (worth NZ$9 million) in the media company New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME), which owns The New Zealand Herald. The journalist Andrea Vance has suggested that Grenon's takeover bid was motivated by NZME's decision not to publish advertisements by right-wing groups such as Hobson's Pledge, the anti-vaccination Voices for Freedom and the conservative Christian lobby group Family First New Zealand. Grenon has also expressed sympathy for the Free Speech Union's stated support for free speech and "plurality of voices in the Fourth Estate."

In response to Grenon's takeover bid, the media company Stuff confirmed on 21 March that it has suspended talks with NZME to acquire its Wellington and South Island newspapers. NZME had wanted to acquire these newspapers in order to promote its OneRoof rental business revenue and audience. By 26 March, Grenon said that he was willing to compromise to appease shareholders opposing his plans, including appointing NZME CEO Michael Boggs to the company's new board, as long as Grenon himself became chair. Grenon had also nominated Des Gittings, Philip Crump, and Simon West as the three other new directors.

On 31 March, the NZME board delayed its shareholder meeting on 31 March to allow the consideration of both proposals and counter-proposals, and for information to be presented to shareholders. In response to Grenon's takeover bid, the New Zealand Shareholders' Association lobbied the NZME board to ensure that the small shareholders retained their independence, that the board would have the right composition of skills needed to govern the company, and to ensure a smooth leadership election that would retain the institutional knowledge required to create stability and minimise disruption for NZME and its shareholders. On 15 April, NZME's director David Gibson resigned.

In early May 2025, former National Party MP and cabinet minister Steven Joyce was nominated to become a director and expressed willingness to replace Barbara Chapman as chair, ahead of NZME's annual shareholders meeting scheduled for 3 June 2025. On 9 May, Grenon's company JTG 4 Limited accepted a compromise arrangement for Grenon to be appointed as a director of NZME at the next annual shareholder meeting. In return, JTG withdrew its proposal for Philip Crump, Des Gittings and Henri Eliot to be appointed to replace the three remaining directors of NZME. Under this arrangement, Chapman would resign at the end of the shareholder meeting but the other three directors Sussan Turner, Guy Horrocks and Carol Campbell would remain for another term. By 27 March 2026, Grenon had increased his stake in the company to 19.90%, acquiring 1.78 million shares for NZ$1.984 million.

Unauthorised Jacinda Ardern memoir In 2025, NZME editor Shayne Currie and Stuff columnist Damien Grant reported that Grenon had financially supported National Business Review journalist David Cohen's unauthorised biography Jacinda: The Untold Stories. Cohen's book was written with the assistance of journalist Rebecca Keillor and drew upon interviews with various figures who had interacted with Ardern including broadcaster Mike Hosking, Heather du Plessis-Allan, microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles, Oliver Hartwich, ACT party leader David Seymour, trade unionist Matt McCarten and Stuff journalist Luke Malpass.

Political involvement During the 2023 New Zealand general election, Grenon registered as a promoter, allowing him to advertise about a candidate, political party or electoral issue.

Personal life Jim Grenon is married to Candice. The couple have lived in Auckland since 2012. Grenon owns a NZ$14.6 million property, which he acquired for about NZ$10 million in 2012.

Grenon has two children through his former wife. Between 2001 and 2016, Grenon was locked in litigation with the Canadian courts over tax deductibility payments arising from a child custody dispute with his ex-wife. During his legal battles, Grenon appealed to both the Supreme Court of Canada and Federal Court of Appeal, arguing that most child care support payers were men, who were prevented by their gender from claiming legal expenses as a tax deduction. The Federal Court ultimately dismissed his argument.