He has just raised the bar for the family again, becoming a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Sir Rod, 59 (Ngāi Tahu), has been recognised for services to business, the technology industry and philanthropy, but said the honour was yet to sink in.
"A lot of the people that have been in this process before are your New Zealand heroes.
"It’s incredibly humbling to be called up and be one of them.
"You just feel really grateful for all the people that you’ve worked with for years — these things are never about one person, it’s about a whole lot of work by a whole lot of people."
After graduating high school, Sir Rod moved to Wellington where he studied accounting and information systems at Victoria University.
Until about 2019 he continued to call the capital home, where he made his name in the business world.
Admitted to the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame earlier this year, Sir Rod’s achievements include establishing successful tech companies Glazier Systems and AfterMail and most notably founding Xero, the global small business accounting platform, in 2006.
Its chief executive until 2018, under Sir Rod’s leadership the company grew to become New Zealand’s second-largest tech exporter, generating thousands of jobs across more than 25 locations and supporting more than four million global customers, while it was also recognised as a world leader in diversity and mental health, setting a benchmark in the tech industry.
He also helped drive digitization initiatives such as online GST and the New Zealand Business Number.
One of his proudest achievements was publicly listing Xero, twice, which was "the ultimate thing to do" — it’s something he’s recently done a third time with Australia’s Tetratherix, of which he is an investor.
"Creating a public company, as a businessperson, gives all people an opportunity to move themselves forward, financially," he said.
Sir Rod was also proud the culture he created within Xero had enabled the business to keep growing "and do what’s right for people in the business", citing its mental health advocacy as a prime example.
Since relocating to Queenstown about six years ago, Sir Rod, recently named a semifinalist in the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year, had focused on public-good infrastructure and philanthropy projects, spanning education, conservation and regeneration, renewable energy, electricity market disruption and public policy advocacy.
Most recently he established Southern Infrastructure, to support Queenstown public infrastructure projects, including a proposed cable car.
"In Queenstown, obviously, we’ve got a few issues, but my feeling is if we can solve these problems in Queenstown it can help rebuild a culture of getting things done in New Zealand.
"I just find it really fun and being part of a pretty inclusive community that’s passionate about our area and being able to use Queenstown as a test lab to be able to make things better for all of New Zealand, it’s a really purposeful, fun way to spend the next 20 years.
"Coming from a small set of rocks in the South Pacific, I really want us to be seen, like the All Blacks, as punching above our weight and doing really good things."
Rod Drury
Queenstown
KNZM
Business, technology industry and philanthropy
