How serial entrepreneur Rod Drury kick-started a $28b company

In this week’s episode of How I Made It, Rich List editor Yolanda Redrup finds out how a passion in high school became the technology phenomenon Xero.

Rod Drury co-founded software company Xero in 2006.

Yolanda Redrup and Iona Rennie

Sep 29, 2025 – 5.00am

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When Rod Drury got his high school certificate in New Zealand, he was the most educated person in his family. It would have been unimaginable to his parents – his father an electrician, and his mum a secretary – that one day he would be the co-founder of a $28 billion software company, and a billionaire in his own right.

But Drury always had a natural interest in computing and an entrepreneurial flair, and had big ambitions from a young age.

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Yolanda RedrupRich List editorYolanda Redrup is the editor of the AFR Rich List. She previously reported on technology, healthcare and Street Talk.