Xero

1. Business/Trading Name: Xero Limited.

2. Company Number: 1830488 (New Zealand company registry number).

3. NZBN: 9429034042984 (New Zealand Business Number).

4. ARBN: 160661183 (Australian Registered Body Number).

5. Entity Type: NZX/ASX-listed public company (New Zealand incorporated company).

6. Business Classification: Cloud-based accounting software (Software-as-a-Service).

7. Industry Category: Financial technology / Accounting Software (SaaS).

8. Year Founded: 2006 (in Wellington, NZ).

9. Headquarters Address: Xero One, 19–23 Taranaki Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011.

10. Other NZ Offices: Auckland – Te Ara Turoa, 96 St Georges Bay Road, Parnell, Auckland 1052 ; Napier – 2 Bridge Street, Ahuriri, Napier 4110 (Hawke’s Bay).

11. Website URL:

https://www.xero.com

12. LinkedIn URL: linkedin.com/company/xero (company’s official LinkedIn page).

13. Company Hub NZ URL: companyhub.nz/companyDetails.cfm?nzbn=9429034042984

14. NZ Companies Office URL: companies-register.companiesoffice.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/1830488 (Xero Ltd register entry).

15. Social Media: Active accounts on Facebook, Twitter (X), and Instagram under “Xero”.

16. Ultimate Holding Company: None (standalone entity, publicly listed).

17. Key Shareholders: Major shareholders include founder Rodney Drury (~9.9m shares, ~6.5% stake), and large institutional investors: BetaShares Capital (0.68%), Pendal Group (0.66%), Australian Foundation Investment Co (0.55%), and Russell Investments (0.36%).

18. Leadership: Board of Directors – Chair David Thodey (former Telstra CEO) ; Directors Susan Peterson, Dale Murray, Steven Aldrich, Brian McAndrews, Anjali Joshi, Mark Cross. Executive team – Chief Executive Officer Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (appointed 2023) and Chief Financial Officer Claire Bramley (appointed 2025). (Previous CEO was Steve Vamos, 2018–2023 ; founder Rod Drury was CEO until 2018.)

19. Staff: Approximately 4,300 employees globally (as of 2024).

20. Staff with Prior Government Roles: Data not found (no prominent examples of current Xero staff with former government positions).

21. Past Employees: Co-founders Rod Drury and Hamish Edwards ; ex-CEO Steve Vamos (2018–2023) ; former CFOs such as Anna Stuck (co-founder/CFO until 2021) and Brad Hans (CFO 2018–2019).

22. Clients: Over 270,000 small businesses in NZ (as of 2018), and over 3.5 million subscribers globally (small-business and accounting firms). No publicly named individual clients disclosed.

23. Industries/Sectors Represented: Primarily small and medium-sized enterprises across diverse sectors (retail, trades, professional services, etc.), via cloud accounting. Also serves accountants/bookkeepers, and provides payroll, HR and financial management services.

24. Publicly Disclosed Engagements: Xero has made formal submissions to government. E.g., it submitted to the 2018 Tax Working Group, outlining its views on tax policy. (It also works with governments on initiatives like “Single Touch Payroll” and NZ’s Payday Filing.)

25. Affiliations: Active member of the tech industry lobby NZTech; Xero Aotearoa’s country manager (Bridget Snelling) sits on NZTech’s board. Xero founder and executives participate in industry forums.

26. Sponsorships/Collaborations: Partner of New Zealand Football and global partner of FIFA Women’s Football (including sponsorship of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023). Operates “Xero For Good” philanthropic programs (e.g. Beautiful Business Fund, Community Connect) for social impact. (No major political party sponsorships by Xero itself.)

27. Events: Organises the annual Xerocon accountant/bookkeeper conferences and training; runs local roadshows and seminars (e.g. NZ Roadshow). Hosts partner events and small-business networking functions.

28. Political Donations: Xero Ltd has stated it makes no corporate party donations. Founder Rodney Drury personally donated $100,000 to the ACT Party (March 2022). This drew criticism (notably from the NZ Māori Authority calling for a Xero boycott).

29. Controversies: Public controversies include founder Rod Drury’s political activities (above). In 2020 Drury promoted a controversial “bolt-hole visa” proposal to Parliament. No data breaches or legal scandals are reported; a baseless social-media claim about selling user data to Palantir was debunked.

30. Other Information of Note: Xero is listed on NZX/ASX (dual-listed 2007–2018, sole ASX listing since 2018). Early investors included Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures and Matrix Capital. Market cap peaked over NZ$10 billion (2019). The company claims significant community contributions (NZ$4.7m in FY2024) as part of its “social impact” reporting.

31. Recipient of Wage Subsidy Scheme: Data not found (no evidence Xero claimed government COVID wage subsidies).

[1] Review of New Zealand’s Tax System – Public Submission by Xero Limited (April 2018), New Zealand Treasury, https://taxworkinggroup.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2018-09/twg-subm-3983157-xero-2-of-2.pdf.
[2] Our Global Offices – Xero, Xero.com (official site), https://www.xero.com/us/about/offices/.
[3] Xero Online Payments Terms, Xero.com (Legal), https://www.xero.com/us/legal/terms/online-payments-terms/.
[4] Supporting our Customers, Partners and Communities, Xero.com (Sustainability report), https://www.xero.com/us/sustainability/community/.
[5] “Xero partners with NZ Football to help clubs perform at their peak,” Xero Media Release (Dec 2022), https://www.xero.com/us/media-releases/xero-partners-with-nz-football/.
[6] Electoral Commission – Disclosure returns (NZ), Government of NZ, https://elections.nz/democracy-in-nz/historical-events/disclosure-returns/.
[7] “Rout? boycott? National Māori Authority slams Deep Sidhu for sacking” [Tangata Whenua Social Work Association report], tūmanako.nz (Parihaka Tāwhiti), https://twswa.org.nz/2022/04/rod-drury-xero-maori-boycott/.
[8] V. Young, “Rod Drury taking bolt-hole plan for foreign billionaires to Parliament,” NZ Herald (BusinessDesk), 20 Apr 2020, https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/covid-19-coronavirus-xero-founder-rod-drury-taking-bolt-hole-plan-for-foreign-billionaires-to-parliament/WK6DKKJHYEHASB7545KE5ASLRU/.
[9] “Xero Limited: Shareholders, Board Members and Company Profile,” MarketScreener, https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/XERO-LIMITED-11900043/company/.
[10] “Xero (company) – Wikipedia,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xero_(company).

Spot anything in this entry that is wrong? Please either leave a comment at the end or email, in confidence: bryce@democracyproject.nz