Ihug brothers know their Net worth

By Theresa Garner

Young, gifted, and rolling in it: barely out of their 20s, Nick and Tim Wood are not waiting till they turn grey to amass fortunes.

The success of their Internet company, Ihug, has seen them rocket into the National Business Review annual Rich List, with an estimated wealth of $75 million.

Nick Wood was surprised to hear that he, his brother and their father, John, were on the list - the eighth-wealthiest family in the land and easily the richest of the 10 individuals and two families who joined the record 167 entries on this year's list.

"It's really only been four years since we started the thing with $8000 cash and a PC," he said last night. "It feels weird."

The brothers are not the only youthful success stories.

Sharon Hunter, aged 33, is still worth around $10 million after cashing up her computer company, PC Direct, two years ago; Xena star Lucy Lawless, 31, has a fortune estimated at $10 million; and 34-year-old Auckland property developer Andrew Krukziener is worth $18 million.

Model Rachel Hunter, who at 29 split from mega-wealthy Rod Stewart this year, makes the Rich List on her own account with $12 million earned from modelling and product endorsements.

Another model, Kylie Bax, 24, is knocking on the door. A favourite of Dior, Armani, Louis Vuitton and Clinique, and the owner of a Kentucky stud farm, the Thames-born beauty is in the "emerging rich" section, hovering below the $10 million required to make the list.

The separate sports list includes rugby star Jonah Lomu ($7 million), motorcyclists Aaron Slight ($6.5 million) and Simon Crafar ($2 million), rugby player Marc Ellis ($1.5 million) and NBA basketballer Sean Marks ($1 million).

The Wood brothers started young, selling their neighbour's fruit at the age of 4.

They began Ihug - New Zealand's second-largest Internet provider after Telecom's Xtra - after opening the country's first cyber cafe in Auckland's Elliott St in 1994.

"Back then it was a big thrill for people to make some lewd and rude comments to people over the Internet," Nick Wood said. "That's what got a lot of people in."

The thrill for him was "competing with Telecom and the other guys."

"Obviously we don't complain about having a few dollars in the bank, but we haven't let it go to our head. We just get on with the job of running the business. I haven't really stopped to think about what the financial ramifications are."

He said Ihug's actual value was $114 million, up from $60 million last year.