Man about town Ricardo Simich brings you Society Insider. This week, Ben Cook on why he’s selling up in NZ; up-and-coming motorsport star Liam Sceats is on the hunt for rich-list investors; Black Cap Lockie Ferguson and wife Emma’s baby announcement.
Society Insider: Rich-lister Ben Cook on why he left NZ; Is motorsport star Liam Sceats the next Scott Dixon? Plus, baby on the way for Black Cap Lockie Ferguson
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Liam Sceats hopes to be the next Scott Dixon; Emma and Lockie Ferguson are expecting a baby; Lavinia White and Ben Cook are dividing their time between Sydney and Monaco. Photo / Herald Composite
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Cook this week confirmed he has also sold his multimillion-dollar Sentinel Rd home in Herne Bay but wouldn’t be drawn on further details about either buyer or sale price. Real estate sources say the prime peninsula house is worth more than $40m.
Earlier this year, Cook’s wealth was estimated at $750m, with sales of some of his grocery and large-format retail holdings in New Zealand and Australia estimated to have netted him $250m over several years.
The National Business Review’s annual Rich List in June stated that Cook has a property portfolio of close to $300m.
Despite major sell-downs of properties on both sides of the Tasman, Cook says it’s business as usual for him in Australia, with his office base in Sydney’s Woolloomooloo.
He says his exit from New Zealand hasn’t been out of the blue.
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“I’ve had a house in Sydney for 25 years and during this time I split my time between Auckland and Sydney,” says Cook.
He says the reason he kept a footprint in New Zealand was his children, who were both in school.
“When they finished high school about six years ago, I started to spend very little time in NZ – only a few weeks a year,” he says.
Cook and his partner of 12 years, Lavinia White, live in Sydney for six months a year, spending the other six months in Monaco. The principality is becoming a popular base for Kiwi Rich Listers – Empire Capital’s Simon and Paula Herbert also spend a large part of the year there and purchased an apartment in 2024.
“It’s always great to be out of the spotlight, and for sure, I’m not on the radar in either Sydney or Monaco,” Cook tells Society Insider.
“I don’t own a place in Monaco; however, the majority of Monaco residents rent versus own, as a large number of residents are only there six months of the year through summer.”
Cook says he and White have been spending the European summers in Monaco since 2019, and they and the Herberts enjoy times together on the French Riviera.
As for when they’re in Sydney, Cook and White have been based in Bondi since 2015. Cook had a house in Double Bay for 15 years before that.
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“The best thing about Sydney is the number of sunshine days and all the other great destinations in Australia, which are available via a short flight,” he says.
Cook’s north-facing 150sq m Bondi apartment has been on the market for a year, with a sale price of A$16m ($18.4m). He tells Society Insider he still owns the apartment but has been looking at other options over the past 12 months.
The apartment was put up for sale after it was completely remodelled by interior designers Stewart + Stewart, who are based in Sydney and have worked across Australia, Asia and the Middle East on some of the world’s finest properties. Cook’s apartment is now known as one of Bondi’s best, sitting above the iconic Icebergs restaurant, pool and swimming club.
As well as his apartment, Cook has bought and sold a number of desirable retail stores along the strip of the famous beach.
Buying and selling property is what made Cook his fortune and he has good friends who are bound to give him the best advice.
One is Sydney-based expat Jason Huljich, the joint CEO at Centuria Capital, which has more than A$20 billion in asset holdings. Another is Auckland-based Mark Francis, CEO of Centuria NZ, whose investment fund is estimated to be worth more than $2.5b in assets.
Cook’s partner, White, has been enjoying her time in Sydney, too. Once a regular glamorous guest at events on Auckland’s well-heeled social scene, she is now making a splash across the Tasman.
She was featured as the lead social photo on marieclaire.com.au last month after attending the charity fundraiser Soiree by the Sea at Rose Bay institution Catalina. There, she rubbed shoulders with Sydney A-listers such as Carla Zampatti CEO Alex Schuman, Chadwick Models owners Marty and Michelle Walsh, broadcaster Richard Wilkins, choreographer Kate Champion and socialite Shari-Lea Hitchcock.
Cook says the couple return to Auckland for short stints each year, spending time in their $7m beachfront home on Waiheke Island.
The most recent visit was for Cook’s father Jeff’s 80th birthday party at The Park Hyatt.
The father and son are close. Jeff founded the NatureBee supplements business and Ben once worked there with his father before switching his whole focus to property. Cook’s sister Keren is NatureBee’s CEO.
Kiwi motor racing star on his drive to become the new Scott Dixon, and the millions it takes to stay in the race
Up-and-coming Kiwi motor racing star Liam Sceats is at a make-or-break point in his career within the multimillion-dollar motorsport industry.
Having started with go-kart racing from the age of 6, Sceats, now 20, has progressed through the ranks, winning NZ championships in his teens and last year’s NZ Grand Prix.
He was the Formula 3 USA winner at last year’s Indianapolis Motor Speedway and competed in the Indy NXT this year. Indy NXT has been described as being to IndyCar what Formula Two is to Formula One.
But with increased competition and rising costs, Sceats admits the competitive world of motorsport is “brutal”.
“I can’t just be fast on the track anymore, I have to be sharp off it,” Sceats tells Society Insider,”
His goal is to stay on the track and follow in the footsteps of his hero, six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon. To do that, he says much of his career is about securing lucrative sponsorship deals.
“You can be one of the fastest on track and have the skill and talent, but without the right backing, it’s over,” says Sceats. “I’ve seen guys with less talent move up just because they’ve got deeper pockets.”
While racing in his first season of Indy NXT in the US earlier this year, Sceats held meetings off the track, pitching sponsorship opportunities to high-net-worth individuals and brands.
This summer, while home in New Zealand, he is cold-calling Rich Listers and corporate heavyweights and will travel the length of the country to raise racing investment.
“I’m essentially the founder of my own start-up,” he says. “I run the business of Liam Sceats the same way any entrepreneur would build a company.”
Sceats says he is using the same fundraising investment model that Dixon and Formula One star Liam Lawson once used, which is called a limited partnership.
“The same law firm that set up and ran Liam’s [limited partnership] is now doing mine,” Sceats says.
“Without this model and the investors coming on board for Lawson and Dixon, they would not be where they are today, and now I am searching for those people to fuel my journey.”
Like Lawson, Sceats has sponsorship support from the Tony Quinn Foundation and the Giltrap Group, which rolled him out as one of its stars at New Zealand Fashion Week in August. Alongside Sir Colin Giltrap’s grandson, fellow motor racer Marco, Sceats drove a Porsche GT3 on to the runway for opening night.
His other sponsors include Rich List companies James Kirkpatrick Group, Bayleys Real Estate and advertising giant Go Media.
Among the titans of industry on his sponsorship wish list are billionaire Nick Mowbray and his company Zuru, as well as new Air NZ CEO Nikhil Ravishankar.
Sceats’ performance coach Shane McConigly has worked with many elite athletes and high-performing leaders and says Sceats is “a rare brand of athletic excellence and business smarts”.
McConigly says Sceats has “a relentless drive for improvement and strategic mindset”, and believes he is “a future world-class athlete destined to reach the top of his sport and make a lasting impact beyond it”.
Sceats won the New Zealand Grand Prix last year, a title Lawson won in 2019, but he says he won’t be following Lawson into Formula One.
“To get into Formula One you need tens of millions of euros,” he says.
Formula Two and Formula Three cost about $3m to $5m per season, he says, and drivers need to compete for at least three years before Formula One.
Next year, Sceats will enter his second year of Indy NXT to complete the full campaign; it will cost him double what it cost this year, hence his hustle.
“Scott Dixon showed that’s possible, his path wasn’t straight either, but he earned every step and now he’s a six-time champ.”
Dixon managed to win the Indy NXT title in his second year, which is also Sceats’ goal.
“Scott has been the one I have looked up to from the earliest days I can remember, where I would watch the Indy 500 race at home with my dad and we’d be rooting for him.”
The return on investment for sponsors on IndyCar can be lucrative. Last year, the Herald estimated Dixon’s 12-month earnings at more than $2.5m and numerous motoring websites report his career wealth at more than US$35m ($61.9m).
Throughout this year, Dixon has been a source of inspiration for Sceats, advising him about the money and fundraising challenges.
Sceats, who grew up in Auckland’s Eastern Suburbs and attended Auckland private school Saint Kentigern College, says his parents, Michele and Simon, have been his biggest supporters through every twist and turn.
“We’ve shared highs, like winning the New Zealand Grand Prix, a goal my dad and I set when I was 6 in go-karts, and faced lows, especially in recent years, through financial pressure as racing budgets climbed into the millions.”
The connections between Sceats and Dixon run deep – Sceats says his dad built his company, Omega Rental Cars, into a market leader after buying it from Dixon’s dad in 1993.
Sceats says his sponsors, including his dad’s company, often joke that racing takes priority over romance, so racing is his only relationship right now.
Through his current sponsorships, Sceats is always networking, whether golfing at Te Arai or attending the Go Media Stadium corporate box and chatting within Auckland FC and One NZ Warriors’ circles.
“I’ve had moments where I’ve had to pinch myself, like speaking at halftime to 400 people at a NZ Warriors’ game,” says Sceats.
With things in flux for next year, Sceats will continue flying the Kiwi flag proudly on the world stage, potentially racing Supercars in Asia, Japan or Australia.
It might not emulate Dixon’s path, however, Sceats points out Kiwi driver Scott McLaughlin moved from the Australian Supercars Championship to the IndyCar Series in 2021.
“I’m still progressing toward that same IndyCar end goal, but I may just need to adjust the roadmap and pivot the stepping stones to get there, depending on the financial hurdles I face.”
A good week for... Lockie and Emma Ferguson
Black Cap Lockie Ferguson and his wife, sports physiotherapist Emma, announced on Sunday they were expecting their first child.
Emma was running the 11km race in the Auckland Marathon and Lockie was waiting on the sidelines at Victoria Park to support his wife. The fast-paced bowler proudly held up a cardboard sign reading “Go Baby Mumma” on one side and “Bump & Run” on the other.
Emma’s marathon accreditation had “Baby on Board” printed on it. She says she was delighted to have a little extra cargo on board for the run and the couple are looking forward to welcoming “Baby Fergie” in February.
British-born Emma has lived in New Zealand since 2019, where she has worked as a sports physiotherapist for New Zealand Hockey, Auckland Cricket and provided physiotherapy to the New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Teams.
Lockie proposed to Emma with a diamond solitaire on Ninety Mile Beach in Northland in February 2023. Their black tie wedding at Waiheke’s Man O’War winery followed a year later.
With both of their careers taking them on sporting tours around the globe, they have enjoyed time supporting each other as husband and wife.
Last year, Lockie, 34, went on a casual contract with the Black Caps and is available to play for New Zealand at the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
Lockie was in Paris while Emma worked with the New Zealand Olympic men’s hockey team as head physio last August.
This year, the couple have enjoyed romantic trips in Sydney, the United Arab Emirates and the US, taking some downtime between Lockie’s matches as a freelancer in various Twenty20 leagues.
Party people of the week
Melbourne Cup at Bivacco
Bivacco on the Viaduct Harbour was the place to be for the Melbourne Cup this year.
More than 250 guests gathered to watch the race that stops two nations on Tuesday afternoon, with host Wilhelmina Shrimpton keeping everyone entertained and informed throughout the afternoon.
The Bivacco Melbourne Cup racing gates, beautifully styled with florals by Liberty Styling, provided the perfect photo opportunity for guests, along with a seafood station overflowing with prawns, tuna and oysters.
The menu also showcased New Zealand meats, including roasted sirloin and crispy pork belly, accompanied by free-flowing Moet & Chandon. The afternoon also included a range of lively racing-themed games, an Aperol Aperitivo Hour, and music from DJs Jaimie Webster Haines, Tim Phin and Cam Robertson.
Guests included Superette owner Rickie Dee and Aurea Jewellers’ Alex Patchett, hospitality designer Rhea Skinner Numan, My Beauty Room founder Nicky Watkins, Borges Design’s Luciana Borges, Moet Hennessy’s Emily Mitchell, and Ceres Organics Kelly-Leigh Morgan.
Cirque’s Corteo premieres
Thousands gathered at Spark Arena last Thursday night for the dazzling opening of Corteo – Cirque du Soleil’s longest-running production, which has arrived at Auckland’s Spark Arena for a strictly limited season from October 30 to November 9.
The acclaimed show, which premiered in Montreal under the Big Top in 2005, has been seen by more than 12 million people across 30 countries. Its Auckland debut featured Cirque du Soleil’s signature mix of artistry, acrobatics and theatrical wonder.
Familiar faces spotted among the crowd included musicians Kings, Ella Monnery, Tom Scott and Six60 member Chris Mac with his daughter Stellar.
Also in attendance were actors Kim Crossman, Shadon and Amelia Reid-Meredith, Antonia Prebble and Tom Sainsbury, broadcasters Matty McLean, Clint Randell, Yasmina Coe and Mike Minogue, and media personalities Colin Mathura-Jeffree, Amber Peebles, Erin Simpson and Luke Bird, as well as influencers Hannah Barrett, Sam Low, Mama Seebz, Hannah Koumakis and Elise Marić.
Ricardo Simich has been with the Herald since 2008 where he contributed to The Business Insider. In 2012 he took over Spy at the Herald on Sunday, which has since evolved into Society Insider. The weekly column gives a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and famous.