Welcome to My Net Worth, our regular column on the lives and motivations of our country’s top business, legal and political people in their own words.  

Rob Campbell has been described as a colossus of corporate New Zealand, having had more than 30 years’ experience on numerous company boards, but it was as a committed socialist and trade unionist that he first came to public prominence. After graduating from Victoria University with a master’s degree in economics, he became involved in union negotiations and was eventually elected to the executive of the Federation of Labour – the predecessor of the Council of Trade Unions – and of the Labour Party. He frequently incurred the wrath of National Party prime minister Rob Muldoon, who labelled him “the undercover communist”. In the late 1980s, Campbell resigned from his union roles and took on directorships, most notably on the BNZ, sparking accusations of being a turncoat and a class traitor (hardly appropriate – his father was a banker). His more-senior roles have included chair of SkyCity, a role he is stepping down from in January 2022, and chair of Guinness Peat Group, Summerset Holdings, Tourism Holdings and WEL Networks. He has recently been announced as chair of Health New Zealand.  In 2017, he was named chairperson of the year at the Deloitte Top 200 Awards, and in 2019 was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to business. In February, he was elected chancellor of the Auckland University of Technology.  

I don’t think I had a dream to be anything when I was a child. I thought very short term –meal to meal, rugby game to rugby game. I certainly didn’t dream of becoming a company director, that’s for sure. 

The best investment I made was my university education. It was an investment in terms of time – in those days, it was free. I think universities have become more job machines than they were. But I still think tertiary study is a tremendous opportunity if you get the chance to do it, and certainly my university experience was very important.

What sticks in my mind from my trade union days is a quote from Chip Bailey, who had been secretary of the Wellington Drivers’ Union before Ken Douglas,  and was a communist. I never met him, but he had a saying: “Listen to what is being said and then look at who is saying it and think about why they are.” That is an approach I still use in business. 

Am I still a socialist? I suspect most socialists would think that I wasn’t, and I don’t think in terms of -isms these days. But if I had a straight choice between being a capitalist and a socialist, I would be a socialist. 

People think business is about money and finance all the time. Obviously financial outcomes are important, but as a director and chair, it is much more about dealing with people and broad strategies than it is about money. 

I think people are too optimistic. When you are running into trouble, a little bit of fear is quite helpful. I used to believe that humankind could find technological solutions to the problems we face. I’m not as convinced of that as I was. 

Rob Campbell in his BNZ days, 1987.

 

You need to be honest with yourself. Most of the things that have gone wrong in my business life have been because I kidded myself or someone lied to me. Focus on being honest about yourself and what you say to others. You won’t always succeed, but that is something people should focus on. 

The people I admire are those who are dealing with and overcoming serious obstacles in life – be it poverty or some other form of handicap, physical or mental. I don’t admire people who are big leaders or strivers. There is no one of that nature I admire. 

The most expensive piece of clothing I bought was probably a suit to wear to the Bank of New Zealand when I was made a director there. I bought it because I thought I should, but I’ve never been a flashy dresser and increasingly what I wear is of absolutely no interest to me at all. I felt out of place, but I feel that way most places I go, and an expensive suit didn’t make much difference. 

I don’t think I’ve had any great accomplishments. Most of the things I’ve done that are prominent have been things I accidentally came upon. Accomplishment implies you’ve tried to do something and achieved it; I don’t feel that about anything I’ve done. I have blundered into them rather than accomplished them.  

My best financial investment would have to be the house my wife Judi and I are living in. It wasn’t intended to be that; it was intended to be somewhere we wanted to live. If anyone’s made many better investments than that, I don’t know. 

I made some early-stage technology investments. Some were okay and some were very bad. One was a fraudulent activity which lost me a lot of money. I made a bad judgement about the people I was investing with – my own stupidity, but that was the worst investment I made.

I relax with physical exercise these days, and I read a lot, which I find relaxing. I have just finished a book by Danny Keenan called Te Whiti o Rongomai and the Resistance at Parihaka, which is about an interesting set of events I didn’t know an awful lot about. 

I used to eat and drink almost professionally. In more recent years, I’ve given up drinking, and I’m vegan now. The cafe I most regularly eat in is a place called Aqua in [Auckland’s] Newmarket, because it is next door to the gym I go to, and Tommy there makes a very fine porridge or protein shake with almond milk. 

As told to Dan Brunskill.
This interview has been edited for clarity.