Ask Me Anything: Max Key - ‘I’m not this dropkick party kid’

Max Key has moved into property development in recent years. Photo / Supplied

It has been nearly 15 years since Max Key entered the public eye, and the former first son turned property developer said he wasn’t always happy with how he portrayed himself in those early years.

Key was just 13 when his dad, Sir John Key, became Prime Minister in 2008. As the first child of a Prime Minister in the social media era, Key’s online antics at times generated as many headlines as his dad did.

Speaking to Paula Bennett on her NZ Herald podcast, Ask Me Anything, Key said that he does not have any regrets about his lifestyle and what he put out there about himself, as it was just him living his life.

“But where I didn’t like how I portrayed myself was that I have always been quite intellectual,” Key said. “I’ve always studied really hard. I’m not this kind of like dropkick party kid. I don’t ever really go out, I don’t actually like drinking, I’ve never been into drugs and so that was the only thing I regretted that I’d meet people and they’d be like, oh, ’how’s the DJing, you vlogging?’ They wouldn’t talk to me like I was doing anything, I was kind of just this dropkick in their eyes almost, just like a meme sort of. And that was the only thing I regretted a bit.”

Key said that given how much under the microscope he was, he doesn’t think he got too much wrong.

“I was 13 when Dad got in. I look at a lot of my friends’ lives and if they were in my position, they would’ve got in a lot more trouble.”

He said that he does feel a lot of anxiety at times, which has been helped by getting into jiu jitsu, but getting off social media and focusing on his career has helped him stop comparing himself to others and focus on his own life.

“I don’t really use social media and I’m very driven on my goals because I just kind of realise that a lot of people spend their lives watching other people’s lives and they never live their own. And I just got to a point where I was like, this is what I want to do and I’m just gonna get obsessed with it and do it, and I don’t really care what anyone else is doing or how good their life seems because I wanna live mine. And it seems really basic, but I feel like a lot of people have forgotten that.

His latest career move has been Stonewood Key Capital, a property development company launched by Key and his dad alongside Michael and John Chow.

Key said the idea came after talking to his father about ways to build up “massive wealth”, and property was the avenue they went down, which was helped by changes to the Resources Management Act making it easy to develop.

While the company has seen success already with some of its developments, Key said there he feels the pressure to succeed because of the profile they have. And while some may think that his famous father is an asset, Key says that he sees it completely differently.

“I think that’s the easy answer. It’s easy to say it’s easier, but then at the same time, I have everyone watching what I’m doing and there’s a lot of people out there that want me to fail, so there’s way more pressure. There’s a lot of people that don’t have everyone judging and analysing every little thing I do, people scrutinising, just constantly lawyers looking through stuff and people are just trying to find any excuse to make me fail.

“Yeah. I’m lucky I’ve got the capital and I’m very fortunate for that and super grateful, but doesn’t mean it’s easy or that sometimes I sit there and go, ‘maybe it would’ve been easier without it all’.”

Listen to the full podcast for more on Key’s experiences in the spotlight, his current relationship status, and advice for those looking to start their own business.

• Ask Me Anything is a NZ Herald podcast, hosted by Paula Bennett. New episodes are out every Sunday.

• You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.