Meet the Founder
Michael Smith
Founder & CEO, Forman Pacific, LLC
An entrepreneur who has spent a working lifetime building businesses from nothing — and building the systems that let them last.
Profile
Builder first
Michael began building businesses at sixteen and has not stopped. Over thirty-three years he has bootstrapped more than eighty start-ups — self-funded, built from first principles, and grown on the strength of the work rather than outside capital.
The pattern has stayed the same throughout: understand an industry properly, build the operating system it is missing, then put a brand on top of it. That approach is the foundation of Forman Pacific, which he leads as Founder and Chief Executive.
Training
A broad professional grounding
Michael's training spans law, business, communications and valuation — the disciplines that sit underneath almost every commercial decision: what was agreed, what it costs, what it is worth, and how it is explained.
- LawLegally trained.
- BusinessDiploma in Business (BOPP), with grounding in accounting and finance.
- Journalism & public relationsQualifications in journalism and PR.
- ValuationChattels valuation qualifications through the University of Auckland.
Industries
Three decades, many sectors
Few founders have worked across as many industries. Each one added something to how Forman Pacific is built today.
Over the years
- Immigration
- Tax
- Property
- Finance
- Fuel
- Security
- Consumer goods
- Service industries
- Hotels
- Restaurants
Today's portfolio
- Emergency services
- Insurance & claims
- Mobility & towing
- Industrial & fuel
- Compliance & screening
- Financial services
- Intelligence
- Healthcare operations
- Media & AI
- Climate technology
- Preparedness
- Employment
- Cloud infrastructure
Family & faith
What it is all for
Michael is married and a father of thirteen. Family sits at the centre of his life, and it shapes how he thinks about the long term — building things that outlast the projects they began as.
His faith guides him: in how he treats people, in how he does business, and in the standard he holds himself and his companies to.
Get in touch
Enquiries for Michael are routed through the Forman Pacific contact form.