The co-founder of a $14 billion ASX-listed technology company, who has denied allegations from three former female employees of unwanted sexual contact, has agreed to hand back his title as New Zealander of the Year.
Sir Rod Drury, who ran the business accounting software platform Xero until 2018, has strenuously denied the accusations from two former Xero employees and a private chef that were aired in the weeks since he was awarded New Zealander of the Year in March.
The allegations, which were reported by NZ outlet Stuff, led to Xero launching a review of the company’s handling of the matter, after it emerged one of the former employees accusing Drury of lodging an internal complaint when she was leaving the company in 2017.
“In relation to historical events from 2017 and confidential personnel matters, Xero’s current board and leadership are committed to fully understanding and evaluating the events and Xero’s response with expert assistance,” a Xero spokesperson said on Sunday.
The spokesperson said that Xero “is committed to maintaining a safe, inclusive and respectful environment for all our people and that “we treat all allegations of inappropriate conduct seriously.
“We appreciate the difficulty of coming forward with information of this nature and provide different ways for people to speak up and for concerns to be treated confidentially and with the care required,” the spokesperson said.
Xero, which is valued at $14.25 billion, was co-founded by Drury in 2006 in Wellington, NZ, and went public on the ASX in 2012. He stepped down as chief executive in 2018, and is no longer on the board of the company that has offices in several countries, including Australia. Drury received his New Zealand knighthood in the 2026 New Year’s honours.
The New Zealander of the Year Awards Office told Stuff on Friday that it had discussed the award with the businessman, who had agreed to return the honour.
“The New Zealander of the Year Awards exist to celebrate those whose contributions strengthen Aotearoa New Zealand and reflect the values of leadership, service, integrity and respect for others,” the office said in a statement.
“Any matter that undermines or calls into question those values is not consistent with the standards and expectations we hold for the awards programme,” it said, adding that the New Zealander of the Year Award will not be handed out again this year.
Drury confirmed he would return the award, but denied the allegations in a statement. “While I completely reject the recent allegations about me, I do not want the current situation to undermine the integrity of the awards or place further pressure on a great organisation before the relevant investigations and proper processes have been completed,” he told Stuff.
One former employee, Ally Naylor, claimed Drury invited her to his apartment near their office for dinner in the mid-2010s, and said he wanted to kiss her.
“And then I left and I got into the elevator and I was just like, ‘What the f—? What the f— just happened?’ she told Stuff. She said similar behaviour occurred on about five further occasions. On her last day with the company in 2017, Naylor filed a complaint.
The other former Xero employee, who has not been identified beyond a first name, alleged Drury initiated physical contact and tried to kiss her after inviting her to his apartment for what she thought would be to discuss a job opportunity.
Drury has said he had a “limited, consensual relationship” with Naylor that was mutual and a part of “a friendship over the course of two years” in which she was a “willing participant”. He said that “any other relationships I had over that period were consensual and mutual”.
Another woman, Megan Ruddle, who Drury employed as a personal chef on his luxury catamaran and later at a property in Queenstown, alleged he would repeatedly kiss her on the lips when greeting her. She finished working for him in 2025, and spoke to Stuff despite signing a non-disclosure agreement as part a confidential settlement after accusing him of unjustified dismissal and sexual harassment.
Drury acknowledged a settlement had been reached with Ruddle, but said she had been sacked for unspecified conduct. He said the settlement was to cover employment processes which weren’t followed properly and denied Ruddle’s allegations, saying he had documents and witnesses to back up his version of events.
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Elias Visontay is a National Consumer Affairs Reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.
