Anna Mowbray
Anna Jane Mowbray | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth year and age Cambridge, New Zealand |
| Occupation(s) | Business leader, entrepreneur |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Known for | Chief operating officer of ZURU; COVID-19 PPE procurement in New Zealand |
Anna Jane Mowbray (born July 1983) is a prominent New Zealand business leader and entrepreneur. Together with her brothers Mat and Nick, she oversees operations at the Chinese toy manufacturing company ZURU, where she holds the position of chief operating officer. Utilizing her network in China, she played a key role in securing and expediting shipments of personal protective equipment to New Zealand amid the COVID-19 crisis.
Early life
Raised in Cambridge, New Zealand, Mowbray attended St Peter's School. Her family background includes ownership of a dairy farm located in Cambridge.
ZURU
Her brothers initially relocated to Hong Kong in 2003 to launch a toy production enterprise before moving operations to China. Mowbray joined their venture in 2005. The business was first situated in Guangzhou but later shifted to Shenzhen to benefit from proximity to Hong Kong, an important center for international commerce, and to access a more experienced labor pool. By 2020, she was serving as the company's chief operating officer.
COVID-19 response
Following school closures in Hong Kong due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mowbray moved from Hong Kong to Coatesville, near Auckland, in January 2020. Drawing on insights from the virus’s early impact in China and Hong Kong, she advised the New Zealand government on 13 March 2020 to restrict border entry exclusively to returning residents. Anticipating global shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) by late March, she coordinated a team spanning ZURU’s offices in New Zealand and China to procure PPE supplies. Working alongside government business liaison Rob Fyfe, ZURU arranged multiple cargo flights through Air New Zealand that delivered PPE into New Zealand starting early April.
Private life
Mowbray has three children from her previous marriage to Blake Wong; her children received education initially in Shenzhen and subsequently in Hong Kong. In 2019, she began a partnership with former All Black Ali Williams, who has two daughters; the couple wed in Fiji in August 2024.
In 2017, the Mowbray siblings acquired the Coatesville mansion for NZ$32.5 million. This residence ranks among the most expensive properties in New Zealand and gained attention due to a police raid there in 2012 during Kim Dotcom’s tenancy. The siblings’ joint net worth is estimated at approximately NZ$3 billion.
In 2020, Mowbray and Williams purchased a waterfront home valued at NZ$24 million located in Auckland’s Westmere, previously owned by filmmaker Andrew Adamson.
Additionally, Mowbray maintains an investment interest in the newly established A League club Auckland FC.