Nationality New Zealander Name Rod Drury | Role Entrepreneur Organizations founded Xero | |
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Occupation technology entrepreneur | ||
Career success stories: Rod Drury (Founder, Xero)
Rodney Kenneth "Rod" Drury (born 1966) is a technology entrepreneur from Wellington, New Zealand. He attended Napier Boys' High School in 1974. He is CEO of the online accounting software company Xero, a former director of Trade Me, and was a key player in the now-defunct Pacific Fibre project.
Contents
- Career success stories Rod Drury Founder Xero
- Interview with xero ceo rod drury
- Professional history
- Awards
- Personal life
- References
Interview with xero ceo rod drury
Professional history
In 1995 Drury established Glazier Systems, a New Zealand software development and consulting company. Glazier Systems was eventually acquired by Advantage Group in 1999 for about $7.5 million and continues today as Intergen.
Drury subsequently founded and served as CEO of AfterMail which was acquired by Quest Software (subsequently acquired by Dell) for US$15 million in January 2006.
In July 2006 Drury founded Xero, a publicly listed software as a service accounting-software company, of which he is Chief Executive.
In October 2007 Rod was a judge for the New Zealand Open Source Awards.
Drury co-founded Pacific Fibre, a company which attempted to build an internet cable between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. The cable would have costed around $400 million, and the venture was ultimately unsuccessful.
Awards
Drury was awarded the Hi-Tech New Zealand "Entrepreneur of the Year" award in 2006 and 2007.
In August 2008 Drury was conferred the title of Honorary Fellow of the New Zealand Computer Society (HFNZCS) during the 2008 NZ Computerworld Excellence Awards. He is only the 21st person to be awarded the title in the Society's 48-year history.
In 2012, Drury was awarded NZ Herald Business Leader of the Year.
In 2013, Drury was named Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the year.
In 2014, Drury was honoured with an award for the Outstanding Contribution to Technology in NZ at the CIO Awards 2014.
Personal life
Drury lives in a "high tech townhouse" in Havelock North, Hawke's Bay region with his family, and is of Ngai Tahu descent.