Background
Morgan grew up in Wellington, New Zealand, with his father economist Gareth Morgan and mother Jo Morgan a local bus driver.
Morgan grew up in Wellington, New Zealand, with his father economist Gareth Morgan and mother Jo Morgan a local bus driver.
He attended Newtown School, Rongotai College and Victoria University of Wellington before opting out in 1995.
Morgan worked for Information Technology consultancy Deloitte before leaving to start up TradeMe in 1999. TradeMe kept him very busy and at one point he was living 200 metres from the main office on Wellington Waterfront. On March 6, 2006, John Fairfax Holdings agreed to buy TradeMe for New Zealand$700 million, plus another New Zealand$50 million if financial targets were met over the next two years.
Sam Morgan received $227 million (excluding future bonuses), making him one of the richest people in New Zealand overnight.
Morgan is now an investor and advisor to a number of start-up businesses and is also involved with several not-for-profit organisations including Medicine Mondiale and One Acre Fund. He is a director of TradeMe, Xero (software) and Vend (software).
In 2010 Morgan was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the New Zealand Computer Society (HFNZCS). In 2006, following the sale of Trade Maine, Morgan founded and endowed Jasmine Social Investments, a private foundation focused on high impact philanthropy.
As at 2014, he had around 20 philanthropic projects, a number of them focused on alleviating the effects of poverty.
