Alan McConnon died after his Toyota Land Cruiser Prado left State Highway 8 about 10.30am on Thursday, slid down a steep bank and hit a tree.
Mr McConnon (62) was the former co-owner of Mainland Products and a recently appointed director of Dunedin Venues Management Ltd, which runs Forsyth Barr Stadium.
His sister, Rosey McConnon, of Dunedin, told the Otago Daily Times he was a ''much loved'' family member who, away from the office, enjoyed ''family, food, friends - in that order''.
''As much as he was a great businessman, he was also a great family man.
''He was a truly social beast. He was very charismatic.''
Mr McConnon and his brother, Baird, got their start turning a small Otago dairy-processing business, started in 1954 by their father Peter, into an exporter with a reported annual turnover of $700million.
Mainland was bought by Fonterra in 2006, and the Dunedin factory closed with the loss of 130 jobs, but Fonterra kept the brand, and Mainland dairy products are still sold throughout New Zealand and Australia.
Senior Sergeant Darryl Lennane said Mr McConnon was taken to Dunstan Hospital with serious injuries after Thursday's crash, but died that afternoon.
Police had launched a serious crash investigation, he said.
Earlier, Constable Patrick Greaney, of Alexandra, said Mr McConnon managed to get out of the vehicle after the crash and phoned emergency services on his cellphone.
There was a delay in finding the site as the crash was believed to be near Roxburgh and the vehicle was not visible from the road, he said.
Yesterday, DVML chief executive Terry Davies said the appointment of Mr McConnon late last year had brought fresh commercial thinking and vision to the boardroom.
Mr Davies said he often used Mr McConnon as a ''sounding board'', and he had been ''very supportive of me and the direction I was taking the business''.
''He was a good addition to our board and he'll be missed. He was a good man.''
Dunedin City Holdings Ltd chairman Graham Crombie also paid tribute to Mr McConnon, saying he was ''a bloody good guy'' who brought ''a lot of strategic thinking and a lot of energy'' to his roles.
The news of Thursday's crash was ''obviously a shock, and I'm feeling for his family and all the people he worked with''.
''He was a top guy, Alan - a really top guy. A big man, a big heart, and did a lot for us.''
An obituary will follow.
