Rod Drury to leave Xero board

Xero founder Rod Drury is to leave the board of the company he founded 17 years ago. Photo / NZME

NZME

Rod Drury is stepping down from the board of directors of Xero, the cloud accounting software company that he founded 17 years ago, after the company’s next annual general meeting on August 17.

Drury, who couldn’t be reached for comment, was chief executive of the company until 2018 when he stepped back into the non-executive director role that he has held since. He will stay on with the company in an advisory role.

In the release to the ASX, where Xero is listed, Drury praised recently appointed chief executive Sukhinder Singh.

“Even after all this time, it feels like we’re still at the beginning of an amazing opportunity, and in a strong position as we help to power the global small business economy,” he said.

“I look forward to continuing to contribute to Xero’s innovation in an advisory role, working deeply with our product teams. I’m especially passionate about product innovation and category expansion as we build from cloud accounting.”

Xero currently has a market capitalisation of A$18 billion ($19.5b).

Other board changes

Alongside Drury, Lee Hatton is also stepping down from the board after nine years as a non-executive director.

He said it was a privilege to be part of the team overseeing Xero’s growth during his time on the board.

San Francisco-based Anjali Joshi will be appointed to the board, standing for election at Xero’s annual election.

Joshi is “an experienced technology and product leader and professional director” the ASX release said.

She said she was excited to bring her technology expertise to help Xero deliver on its potential.

“I’ve worked for many large and scaling global companies and I’m passionate about how technology can be used to drive better business outcomes.”

Drury’s stake

Xero’s director of corporate communications Simon Fitzgerald said he was unable to comment on Drury’s plans for his remaining stake in the company.

He did tell NZME that Drury’s final director’s interest notice will set out his holding when it is released to the ASX on the date of his retirement from the board.

Drury has become one of New Zealand’s best-known investors, including his recent deep tech private venture capital firm Radar Ventures, which he launched with investor Atlanta Daniel.