Matt Lauer can keep New Zealand ranch after OIO investigation
The former Today show host Matt Lauer can keep his New Zealand ranch.
The NZ authorities concluded last week there wasn't enough evidence he'd breached a "good character" condition after sexual misconduct accusations saw him depart the broadcaster NBC last November.
His termination triggered an investigation by New Zealand authorities, who require foreign buyers of important assets to be of good character.
The provision is broad and includes criminal convictions as well as anything else that authorities decide reflects poorly on an owner's integrity.
Lauer last year purchased a lease for the Hunter Valley Station, a 10,750 hectare farm with lakeside ranch near Queenstown
The property runs 13,000 cattle and merino sheep.
It runs alongside a river that's filled with trout and salmon.
New Zealand's Overseas Investment Office (OIO) said that as part of its investigation, it had taken sworn statements from Lauer and had been in touch with NBC.
"Mr. Lauer has not been charged with any offence, nor convicted, and the evidence available to the OIO at this time does not establish that Mr. Lauer is unfit to continue to hold the asset," said Lisa Barrett, an official at Land Information New Zealand, in a statement. "However, in reaching this position, we do not condone the inappropriate way that Mr. Lauer has behaved."
Last year, Lauer and wife Annette Roque said in a statement they'd be visiting New Zealand for several years, and "every time we visit, we feel lucky to be in a place of such endless beauty, inspiration and adventure."
