When the news broke that Sir Robert Jones—the man everyone just called Bob—had passed away at 85 in Wellington, it felt like a weirdly quiet end for someone who spent his life being so incredibly loud. Honestly, if you grew up in New Zealand or followed the global property market, you knew Bob. He wasn't just a guy who owned buildings. He was a lightning rod. He was the billionaire who punched a journalist on live TV, founded a political party just to spite the Prime Minister, and then spent his later years writing scathing columns that made everyone either cheer or cringe.
Robert Jones passed away peacefully at home on May 2, 2025, after a short illness. For a man who seemed to thrive on conflict and high-stakes negotiation, the quietness of his departure was almost out of character.
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The Robert Jones Obituary: A Legacy of Bricks and Controversy
Most people look at a city skyline and see architecture. Bob Jones looked at a skyline and saw a chess board. He started from nothing, growing up in state housing in Lower Hutt, and ended up with a property empire worth over $2 billion. That’s not a typo. Two billion. But he didn't do it by following the rules. He was a university dropout and a former boxer who used his ring instincts in the boardroom.
His strategy? Be the contrarian. When the market was panic-selling, Bob was buying. When everyone was bullish, he was sitting on a mountain of cash waiting for the crash. He founded Robt. Jones Holdings in 1964 and basically never looked back.
Why the 1984 Election Still Matters
You can't talk about Robert Jones without talking about the New Zealand Party. In 1983, he got so fed up with Robert Muldoon’s economic controls that he did what any rational billionaire would do: he started his own political party. He didn't even want to win. He just wanted to make sure Muldoon lost.
It worked.
The New Zealand Party split the conservative vote, leading to a landslide victory for Labour. It changed the trajectory of the country’s economy forever. Bob basically treated the entire political system like a side project, and honestly, that kind of audacity is what made him such a fixture in the news for five decades.
The Man Behind the Money
Away from the office, Bob was... complicated. He had nine children and was married several times. He famously said he never understood monogamy and wasn't exactly a "conventional" father. He was a man of contradictions. He’d spend millions on a new skyscraper and then turn around and quietly fund the legal defense of someone like Teina Pora, who was wrongfully imprisoned for decades. He didn't want the PR points for it, either. He just did it because he thought it was right.
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The "Rod Vaughan" Incident
Ask any Kiwi over the age of 40 about Bob Jones, and they won’t talk about his interest rates. They’ll talk about the Tongariro River in 1985. A journalist named Rod Vaughan tracked Bob down via helicopter while he was fly-fishing. Bob, who just wanted to fish in peace, ended up breaking the guy's nose.
When a judge later fined him $1,000, Bob famously asked if he could pay $2,000 so he could do it again. It’s that kind of acerbic wit that made him a "living legend," as Prime Minister Christopher Luxon put it.
What We Can Learn From the Life of Robert Jones
Looking back at the Robert Jones obituary, it's clear his life wasn't just about accumulating wealth. It was about an obsession with personal liberty. He hated being told what to do—by the government, by the media, or by social norms.
He authored 26 books. Nine of them were novels. He was a prolific writer who spent his mornings writing by hand before heading into the office to check on his holdings in Auckland, Wellington, and Glasgow. He was a man who lived entirely on his own terms.
Practical takeaways from his career:
- Patience is a financial asset: He often held properties for decades, ignoring short-term market noise.
- Intellectual independence: He never cared if his opinions were unpopular. In fact, he seemed to prefer it when they were.
- Philanthropy doesn't need a press release: His most impactful work—like supporting the Taxpayers' Union and various justice reforms—was often done without seeking credit.
If you’re looking to honor his legacy, maybe don't go around punching journalists. Instead, consider his approach to business: stay curious, stay contrarian, and never let anyone tell you how to run your life.
The family held a private service, as Bob was always protective of his personal life despite his very public persona. Memorial donations in his name often go toward social justice causes or local community initiatives, reflecting the quieter, more generous side of the man who spent eighty-five years shaking things up.
Check your local business registries or the Robt. Jones Holdings official site for details on how his commercial portfolio will be managed moving forward, as the company has stated it will continue operations as usual.