Sir Michael Hill
Founder, Michael Hill Jeweller
Sir Michael Hill was the founder of Michael Hill Jeweller, one of New Zealand's most successful retail exports and the business that made him one of the country's most famous entrepreneurs. He opened his first store in Whangarei in 1979 and built it into an international jewellery chain trading across New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
Born in Whangarei in 1938, Hill learned the trade over more than two decades working in his uncle's jewellery shop before striking out on his own in his early forties. It was a late start for a man who would go on to reshape jewellery retailing in three countries, and he later described those years of persistence in his frank 2010 autobiography Toughen Up.
His approach was unusually focused for the time. Where most jewellers sold a little of everything, Hill built shops that sold only jewellery, in a standardised format that could be rolled out quickly and backed by heavy, memorable advertising. The formula worked. Michael Hill International listed on the New Zealand stock exchange in 1987, expanded into Australia and later Canada, and grew to hundreds of stores, turning a single Northland shop into a listed company worth hundreds of millions.
That success made the Hill family a long-standing fixture on New Zealand's rich list. The company is now dual-listed on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges and remains one of the most recognised jewellery brands in Australasia, still carrying its founder's name over the door of every store.
Beyond retail, Hill was known as a patron of the arts and sport. He founded the Michael Hill International Violin Competition in 1983, one of the world's leading contests for young violinists, and built The Hills golf course near Arrowtown, which has hosted the New Zealand Open. He was knighted in 2011 for services to business and the arts, and died at his Arrowtown home in July 2025, aged 86. His story sits alongside founders like Sir Stephen Tindall in a generation that proved a New Zealand retail brand could compete on the world stage.
About this profile
This profile was researched and written by Noteworthy using publicly available sources. If something here is out of date or incorrect, let us know and we’ll review it.
