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About

Mega

  1. Business / Trading Name

    • Legal Name: Mega Cloud Services Limited (formerly “Mega Limited” until March 2022).

    • Brand Name: MEGA (often styled as “MEGA The Privacy Company”).

  1. Company Number

    • 4136598 (NZ Companies Office registration number).

  1. NZBN (New Zealand Business Number)

    • 9429030423626.

  1. Entity Type

    • NZ Limited Company (limited liability company).

  1. Business Classification

    • Industry code J592210 – “Information storage and retrieval service (except library)” (as classified on the Companies Register).

  1. Industry Category

    • Cloud storage, Internet services, and data encryption technology.

  1. Year Founded

    • 2013 (MEGA launched January 2013). First incorporated on 29 November 2012.

  1. Addresses

    • Current Registered & Physical: Level 21, Huawei Centre, 120 Albert Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand.

    • Postal: Private Bag 92533, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.

    • Former Addresses: Springhill Farm, 1232 State Highway 1, RD2, Wellsford 0972 (registered office at founding, 2012–2014); c/o Simpson Grierson, 88 Shortland St, Auckland (registered office 2014–2022); Level 15, PwC Tower, 188 Quay St, Auckland (operational office, 2014–2022).

  1. Website URL

    • Main website:

https://mega.io

    • (with primary user portal at mega.nz).

  1. LinkedIn URL

  1. Company Hub NZ URL

  1. NZ Companies Office URL

  1. Social Media URLs

(MEGA maintains active social media profiles under the “MEGA” or “MEGA Privacy” branding – Twitter handle @MegaPrivacy, etc. – but specific URLs are as above.)

  1. Ultimate Holding Company

    • Cloud Tech Services Limited – a Hong Kong-registered holding company owning ~99.8% of Mega Cloud Services Ltd. (Cloud Tech Services, based in Kowloon, HK, became the majority shareholder in late 2016, consolidating previous investors).

  1. Key Shareholders

    • Cloud Tech Services Ltd (HK): ~99.83% ownership. This holding represents a consortium of investors that took control after 2015.

    • Dotcom Family Trust: ~0.16% (via Dotcom Family Trustees Ltd, representing Kim Dotcom’s family).

    • Cloud Innovations Ltd: nominal <0.01% (entity linked to co-founder Bram van der Kolk’s family).

    • Other Minor Shareholders: small residual stakes held by early founders or associates (e.g. Mathias Ortmann with ~21,750 shares, and three trustees for former CEO Vikram Kumar with 2,940 shares). (No single individual shareholder has a controlling stake; ownership is highly consolidated under the HK holding company).

  1. Leadership

    • Shane Te Pou – Interim Chief Executive Officer (since Oct 2022). Also Director on board (appointed Jan 2019). Former Labour Party activist (provides political insight to the company).

    • Stephen Hall – Former CEO (2016–2022) and Executive Chairman. Oversaw global growth; retired July 2024.

    • Mathias Ortmann – Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Early director (2012–2015)

    • Bram van der Kolk – Co-founder and lead developer (“Chief Architect”). Not a formal director post-2013 (due to legal issues) but a key technical leader and co-author of MEGA’s platform.

    • Board of Directors: As of 2023, chaired by an interim executive (Te Pou). Past directors have included investors’ representatives (e.g. Ka Yau “Keith” Kwan and Wei Wang from 2017–2022) and early executives (Kim Dotcom, Tony Lentino, etc., see #18).

  1. Staff

    • Approximately 70–80 staff worldwide (as of 2021). This includes ~50 employees in New Zealand (Auckland) and ~20 in Spain, with additional developers and support staff distributed globally. MEGA’s LinkedIn reports 200+ employees, likely counting contractors and international team members. The company has specialized teams for engineering (focus on encryption software), customer support (content compliance), and business operations.

  1. Staff that have held previous government roles

    • No staff with direct government-office roles have been identified. (Notably, Shane Te Pou is a former political campaign manager and Labour Party official, but he did not hold a public service/government office position).

    • Michelle Boag (PR advisor to MEGA in 2013–2014) is a former National Party president, albeit not a staff member. No ex-Ministers or ex-MPs are on MEGA’s staff roster as of the past decade.

  1. Past Employees

    • Kim Dotcom – Founder and initial director (launched MEGA in 2013; resigned Sept 2013 to pursue political ventures).

    • Vikram Kumar – CEO Feb 2013 to mid-2014 (hired from InternetNZ shortly after launch). Drove early operations, then departed as new investors came on board.

    • Tony Lentino – Early investor/director (2012–2014) who helped establish MEGA’s infrastructure; known for hosting MEGA’s servers on his Wellsford property in early days.

    • Graham Gaylard – CEO 2014–2016 (oversaw attempts to list on NZX and early growth).

    • Brian Clarkson – Director 2014–2015 (Australian businessman, brought in during attempted NZX listing).

    • Zhao Wu Shen – Director 2014–2015 (Chinese investor on board; exited amid 2015 ownership shuffle).

    • Jianhong “John” Yang – Major investor and director 2015–2021 (represented Chinese shareholding; stepped down once Hong Kong holding co. took over).

    • Mathias Ortmann & Bram van der Kolk – (See “Leadership” above; they are considered co-founders and were former directors until 2015).

    • Finn Batato – Early employee/shareholder (former Megaupload exec, held minor shares in MEGA until 2016).

    • (MEGA’s workforce has evolved from the founder-centric team in 2013 to a more conventional corporate team by 2020, with early Dotcom-era personnel largely gone by 2015.)

  1. Clients

    • Not Applicable (N/A). MEGA is a direct-to-consumer cloud service provider with over 250 million registered users globally. It does not have “clients” in the sense of a consultancy or lobbying firm; instead, its “customers” are individual users and businesses using its online storage services. (No specific client roster; its user base is international end-users of the MEGA platform).

  1. Industries/Sectors Represented

    • Technology – Cloud Storage & Encryption: MEGA operates in the tech sector, specifically providing end-to-end encrypted cloud storage, file sharing, and related internet services.

    • Internet Services & Privacy: The company positions itself as a privacy-centric internet service, often engaging on issues of data security, surveillance, and digital rights (indirectly “representing” the privacy tech industry in policy debates).

  1. Publicly Disclosed Engagements

    • Parliamentary Submission (2021): MEGA made a submission to the NZ Parliament on the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill (post-Christchurch attack law reforms). In Executive Chairman Stephen Hall’s submission, MEGA supported anti-terror intentions but objected to clauses that could hold encrypted platforms liable for user content. The submission argued it is “practically infeasible” for MEGA to monitor or decrypt user files and cautioned against making providers criminally liable for terrorist use of their services.

    • InternetNZ Domain Policy (2020–21): MEGA participated in InternetNZ’s review of the.nz domain policy. It filed a detailed submission in 2020 and 2021, given its reliance on the.nz domain. MEGA argued against rules it saw as onerous, and highlighted its interest as a major global business operating on a ‘.nz’ domain. (This engagement was voluntary and public via InternetNZ archives.)

    • Industry Consultation – Encryption/Online Safety (2022): MEGA responded to the Australian eSafety Commissioner’s consultation on an online safety code, explaining its encryption model and the limits of content scanning. It emphasized to regulators that it cannot access user data unless a user shares a decryption key, positioning itself in policy debates around encryption standards.

    • Transparency Report (2021): MEGA published a transparency report detailing its cooperation with law enforcement and content takedowns, presumably to engage policymakers and stakeholders on its trust and safety practices. (This is a self-disclosure rather than an external engagement, but relevant to its public accountability.)

  1. Affiliations

    • Industry Associations: No confirmed memberships in NZ industry bodies like NZTech or NZRise were found (MEGA does not appear on public member lists) – Data Not Found.

    • Advocacy Groups: MEGA executives have interacted with groups like InternetNZ (through submissions and former CEO Vikram Kumar’s involvement). The company largely operates independently, though it shares common cause with other tech firms on issues of encryption and internet regulation (e.g. joining tech sector voices opposing backdoors in encryption).

    • Academic/Research Partnerships: MEGA has not publicized formal affiliations, but it did cooperate with cryptography researchers in acknowledging and patching security vulnerabilities (indicating informal engagement with the academic security community).

  1. Sponsorships / Collaborations

    • Philanthropy: MEGA has engaged in low-profile charitable collaborations. For example, in late 2021 it ran a charity campaign matching user donations for children’s aid in Ethiopia and Kenya dollar-for-dollar (up to NZ$10k).

    • Promotional Collaborations: MEGA occasionally partners with other privacy-oriented services (e.g. bundling promotions with VPNs, as it launched its own VPN in 2023) – though specific sponsorships are not publicly documented.

    • No major public event sponsorships or high-profile collaborations have been announced in NZ (MEGA tends to focus on product development rather than marketing partnerships) – no significant sponsorship data found.

  1. Events (held or organized by this organisation)

    • No public events hosted by MEGA have been reported. MEGA’s product launches are typically online. Its most notable “event” was its launch on 20 January 2013 at Kim Dotcom’s Coatesville mansion, which was a media-covered extravaganza staged by Dotcom himself. However, that was a one-off founder-driven event.

    • MEGA has not held conferences, public forums, or large official events in NZ in the past decade. (Any involvement in events tends to be behind the scenes – e.g. quietly supporting privacy conferences or hackathons – but no direct evidence of such activities has been found in public sources.)

  1. Political Donations

    • By MEGA: No disclosed political donations by the company. A search of NZ Electoral Commission records and media did not show MEGA Limited as a donor to political parties or candidates – Data Not Found (MEGA’s management appears to avoid direct political contributions).

    • By Affiliated Individuals: The founder Kim Dotcom infamously donated NZ$50,000 to Auckland mayor John Banks’ campaign in 2010 and later funded the Internet Party with at least NZ$3.5 million in 2014. Those were personal donations but had political ramifications that indirectly affected MEGA’s image (Dotcom’s donation scandal led to a Minister’s resignation in 2013). Additionally, Shane Te Pou has been a Labour Party fundraiser (raising money for Labour but specific donation figures not public). These activities underscore MEGA’s proximity to political finance, albeit not through corporate donations.

  1. Controversies

    • “Hostile Takeover” Allegations (2015): In 2015, Kim Dotcom alleged that MEGA had been subject to a hostile takeover by a Chinese businessman “wanted in China for fraud” – referring to investor William Yan (aka Bill Liu). Dotcom claimed Yan amassed influence via straw-men shareholders. This came after NZ authorities froze Yan’s assets (including a 16% MEGA stake) in a money-laundering probe. MEGA’s management denied any hostile takeover, noting 75% shareholder approval of changes. Nonetheless, the controversy highlighted opaque share dealings and raised concerns about hidden foreign influence in MEGA’s ownership.

    • PayPal Service Cut-off (2015): In March 2015, PayPal ceased processing MEGA’s payments after pressure from Visa/MasterCard, who cited a report labeling MEGA an “illegitimate” cloud service due to its encryption preventing content monitoring. PayPal’s key concern was that MEGA’s end-to-end encryption made it impossible to verify if users stored illicit material. MEGA protested that it complied with law and takedowns, but this incident forced MEGA to temporarily offer free service to subscribers and scramble for new payment processors. It underscored how MEGA’s privacy stance put it at odds with financial gatekeepers and was a black mark implying association with piracy/undesirable content.

    • Christchurch Shooter’s Manifesto (2019): The Christchurch terror attacker uploaded his manifesto to MEGA minutes before the 2019 massacre, calling unwanted attention to MEGA’s platform being abused by extremists. MEGA cooperated with authorities and removed the content, but the incident spurred the New Zealand government’s review of online content laws. It likely influenced MEGA’s strong response to the 2021 Counter-Terror bill (to avoid overly broad liability for such cases).

    • Encryption Flaws Exposed (2022): Researchers from ETH Zurich revealed cryptographic vulnerabilities in MEGA’s encryption design that could enable a malicious MEGA server (or state actor with control of MEGA’s infrastructure) to decrypt users’ files. Five distinct attacks were demonstrated against MEGA’s “zero-knowledge” system in mid-2022. MEGA acknowledged the issues and patched them, but the disclosure contradicted MEGA’s public assurances that not even the company could ever access user data. This raised questions about whether MEGA’s security claims had been overstated – a reputational hit for a company trading on privacy.

    • Dotcom’s Political Stunt (2014): MEGA’s founder Dotcom orchestrated a high-profile “Moment of Truth” event days before the 2014 election, alleging mass surveillance by NZ and US agencies. While not an event by MEGA per se, Dotcom’s actions (as the then-largest shareholder) caused “vicarious embarrassment” for MEGA’s team. MEGA’s management publicly distanced the company from Dotcom’s politics, emphasizing their focus on quietly building the business. This episode contributed to an ongoing effort by MEGA to shed the shadow of Dotcom’s controversies.

    • Lack of Transparency: Throughout its history, MEGA has been criticized for opacity in ownership and operations – for example, the complex shuffling of shares among opaque trusts and overseas entities, and the initial anonymity of some investors. New Zealand’s Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2023 highlighted issues with transparency in corporate lobbying, implicitly urging companies like MEGA to be more open about influence efforts. MEGA’s secretive transition of ownership (to a Hong Kong shell with undisclosed shareholders) and reluctance to discuss its financials publicly (e.g. profits, revenue sources) have fueled skepticism about who ultimately pulls the strings.

  1. Other Information of Note

    • Data Sovereignty: MEGA, despite NZ roots, hosts the bulk of its data in Europe/Canada, maintaining only a “small vanity” data center in New Zealand. This global infrastructure strategy is partly to cut costs and partly to reassure international users that their data isn’t subject solely to NZ jurisdiction. Nonetheless, MEGA emphasizes it’s a New Zealand company at heart, even as it serves 200+ million users worldwide.

    • Regulatory Compliance: MEGA claims strong compliance with law enforcement worldwide for abuse material and piracy takedowns. It reports processing hundreds of takedown requests daily and cooperating “within minutes” when illegality is reported. This stance is an attempt to counter the lingering perception that MEGA (like its predecessor Megaupload) is a haven for pirated or illegal content.

    • Financial Performance: MEGA announced its first-ever profit in 2020, after years of reinvesting in growth. Shareholders had raised US$30 million earlier and kept a capital buffer. The company’s valuation was once touted at NZ$210 million during a planned 2014 NZX listing, but by 2015 one rights issue implied a much lower effective valuation (~NZ$1.7m, likely due to massive share dilution). MEGA is privately held and does not disclose detailed financials, leading to some speculation about its revenue given a large free user base.

    • Legal Extradition Case: MEGA’s senior principals Bram van der Kolk and Mathias Ortmann have been entangled in the Megaupload extradition case alongside Dotcom. In 2022, they struck a deal with US authorities to face charges in NZ instead, allowing them to continue at MEGA rather than be extradited. This arrangement, while a legal footnote, is notable for ensuring MEGA retained its two key technical minds (albeit now convicted felons in NZ) and thus stability. It also underscores how MEGA’s fate has been intertwined with unresolved legal fallout from the Megaupload era.

  1. Recipient of Wage Subsidy Scheme

    • No record of MEGA as a COVID-19 wage subsidy recipient. A search of the official employer subsidy database did not show “Mega Limited” or “Mega Cloud Services Ltd” as having claimed the 2020–21 wage subsidies – Data Not Found. It appears MEGA did not seek government wage support during the pandemic, possibly because its revenue was not severely affected (demand for cloud services actually grew during lockdowns). MEGA even noted a 60% surge in user sign-ups during the March 2020 lockdowns, suggesting it weathered COVID-19 without government aid.

Sources:

[1] David Fisher, NZ Herald: “Former InternetNZ head named as Mega boss” – NZ Herald (7 Feb 2013). https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/former-internetnz-head-named-as-mega-boss/3OTKMVZK4TMW77ZGWJKSTRFRQM/

[2] Nick Grant, NBR: “New Mega HR head Shane Te Pou well connected” – National Business Review (25 Aug 2014). (Subscription)

https://www.nbr.co.nz/

[3] BizDb (via NZ Companies Office data): “Mega Cloud Services Limited – business information” – BizDb.co.nz (data updated 19 Apr 2025). https://www.bizdb.co.nz/company/9429030423626/

[4] Rebecca Stevenson, BusinessDesk: “Mega, the encryption company that wants to be everything” – BusinessDesk (2020). https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/editors-picks/mega-the-encryption-company-that-wants-to-be-everything

[5] Indra P. Palaniappan, Reseller News: “Mega pushes back on NZ’s proposed new anti-terrorism laws” – ResellerNews NZ (1 Jul 2021). https://www.reseller.co.nz/article/1294921/mega-pushes-back-on-nzs-proposed-new-anti-terrorism-laws/

[6] New Zealand Companies Office: Company Register entry for Mega Cloud Services Ltd (Company #4136598) – via companiesoffice.govt.nz (archived 10 Oct 2021). (Primary source of corporate registration details.)

[7] Jenny Ruth, RNZ News: “PayPal stops processing Mega payments” – Radio New Zealand (3 Mar 2015). https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/267631/paypal-stops-processing-mega-payments

[8] Sophie Bateman, Newshub: “Kim Dotcom’s Mega says it can’t read your files – researchers say otherwise” – Newshub (23 June 2022). https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/technology/2022/06/kim-dotcom-s-mega-says-it-can-t-read-your-files-researchers-say-otherwise.html

[9] The Register (UK): “Mega’s unbreakable encryption proves to be anything but” – TheRegister.co.uk (23 June 2022). https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/23/mega_encryption_flaws/

[10] Hansard (NZ Parliament): Justice Committee Report on the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill – NZ Parliament (August 2021). (Contains discussion of submissions including MEGA’s.)

https://www.parliament.nz/

[11] Te Pou, Shane – Newsroom: “Weakening encryption not the answer for NZ” (Opinion) – Newsroom.co.nz (14 Nov 2019). https://www.newsroom.co.nz/ideasroom/weakening-encryption-not-the-answer-for-nz

[12] Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project: “InternetNZ – by Bryce Edwards – The Integrity Institute” – (substack, 2023). (Context on lobbying register and NZ tech orgs.)

https://democracyproject.substack.com/p/internetnz

[13] Ars Technica: “Researchers discover vulnerabilities in Mega cloud service” – ETH Zurich News / ArsTechnica (23 June 2022). https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2022/06/eth-researchers-discover-vulnerabilities-in-mega-cloud-service.html

[14] NZ Herald: “Mega raises $7.5m as new shareholders take majority control” – NZ Herald/BusinessDesk (13 Aug 2015). https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/mega-raises-75m-as-new-shareholders-take-majority-control/ORS7TVBNFDNUGRXZZMZ3PUMETM/

[15] RNZ News: “Time runs out on Mega bid for listing” – Radio NZ (13 May 2015). https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/272996/time-runs-out-on-mega-bid-for-listing

[16] RNZ News: “Mega boss defends backdoor listing” – Radio NZ (26 Mar 2014). https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/239214/mega-boss-defends-backdoor-listing

[17] The Guardian (UK): “NZ minister resigns over Kim Dotcom donation allegations” – The Guardian (16 Oct 2013). https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/16/new-zealand-john-banks-kim-dotcom-donation

[18] The Washington Post: “Kim Dotcom’s new MEGA encrypted service offers plenty of privacy – maybe too much” – The Washington Post (Jan 2013). https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/kim-dotcoms-new-mega-encrypted-service-offers-plenty-of-privacy–maybe-too-much/2013/01/22/

[19] StartupBlink: “Top Startups in New Zealand – MEGA Privacy ranked” – StartupBlink (2025 ranking). https://www.startupblink.com/startups/new-zealand

[20] NZ Herald – Mike Williams opinion: “Political lobbying: Time to tackle transparency and access” – NZ Herald (July 2023). https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/mike-williams-political-lobbying-time-to-tackle-transparency-and-access/

[21] OECD (via Integrity Institute): “OECD urges NZ to tame its corporate lobbyists” – democracyproject.substack.com (Oct 2023). https://democracyproject.substack.com/p/oecd-urges-nz-to-tame-its-corporate-lobbyists

[22] InternetNZ (archived): “MEGA submission –.nz Policy Review” – InternetNZ (Feb 2021). https://internetnz.nz/assets/Archives/Mega-Limited-dotnz-policy-review-submission-v2.pdf

[23] Newshub: “Kim Dotcom launches Internet Party” – Newshub (19 Jan 2014). https://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/kim-dotcom-launches-internet-party-2014011912

[24] RNZ News: “Internet company Mega plans New Zealand listing” – Associated Press/Washington Examiner (26 Mar 2014). https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/internet-company-mega-plans-new-zealand-listing

[25] NZ Herald: “Political donations: people power no match for big business” – Newsroom analysis (Feb 2023). https://www.newsroom.co.nz/political-donations-people-power-no-match-for-big-business

Spot anything in this entry that is wrong? Please either leave a comment at the end or email, in confidence: bryce@democracyproject.nz

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