Murray Thom
Entrepreneur
Serial entrepreneur Murray Thom left school at 15 with no qualifications. By the age of 23, he was became Managing Director of CBS Records, the youngest Managing Director of that group in the world. With a strong desire to be self-employed, he left the corporate life and founded and owned Personalised Plates in 1987 as a result of winning a government tender to act as the Ministry of Transport’s exclusive marketing agent to introduce personalised number plates into New Zealand. The company enjoyed great success and at its height had a turnover of $30 million annually and a staff of 60. Murray sold that company in 1997 to pursue his real passion, the music business.
Murray now manages his own boutique record company, Thom Music, producing many best selling albums including Carl Doy’s Piano by Candlelight, Martin Winch’s Espresso Guitar, and albums by Margaret Urlich, Rob Guest and Dave Dobbyn. Thom music has enjoyed great success and two of his productions, Together and Miracle have both featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. His recent creation, The Great New Zealand Songbook includes two CDs featuring selections of the best New Zealand music of the last century and this century. Forty of New Zealand’s favourite recording artists have contributed handwritten lyrics, photos and memorabilia and features the iconic cover art of ‘Charlie, The Four Square Man’ holding a guitar.
Murray’s other passion is sailing. His father taught him to sail when he was 7 and at 12 he was the youngest winner of the Tanner Cup for P class boats. Murray has also represented New Zealand in Lasers, Finns and Solings and represented New Zealand at the pre-Olympic regatta in Russia in 1979. In 2005 he won the World Laser Masters championship in Brazil.
Murray Thom has featured on Documentary New Zealand’s The Midas Touch. He made NZ Business magazine’s Top 10 Entrepreneurs of the Decade, and featured in Management magazine’s cover story on Leadership.