Steve Owen, owner of the 40m Benetti Maverick

“I grew up in Wellington and we used to drive up to the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula for holidays,” he says. “I remember we always went past a boat shop and I asked my dad why we couldn’t have one. Back then, happiness would have been a six-foot dinghy with a little two-horsepower Seagull outboard. Now my chase boat is a wallytender48X with four times 400hp!”

There’s an element of pride here – less at what Owen can now afford and more at where he started from. “I didn’t do uni and my careers advisor said I would probably have a career as a bank teller,” he remembers gleefully.

Lightened of the cares of management and freighted with cash, Owen turned to another project: yachting. As a young man, he had loved spending time on his father-in-law’s yachts in Palma.

The relationship had not endured, but the passion had. His eye fell on Fitzroy Yachts, a New Zealand builder of giant aluminium sailing boats, where he decided to build a run of three boats – using them for a bit, then selling them on.

“In the process, I formed this great relationship with designer Ed Dubois, who I admired and loved – such a great guy – and also with Malcolm McKeon, who took on the role after Ed’s passing. “It was profitable and it was also instrumental in setting me up for more boat building down the track.”

But it wasn’t to stay that way, as Fitzroy ran into financial difficulties, forcing Owen to take over the yard to finish his third yacht. “I finally got my money out of it and decided not to speculate any more.”

“Building the Benetti has been one of my life's great experiences. We had fun and drank a lot of Italian wine”

Describing this period as “retirement” might be stretching things a little bit, because large fortunes don’t simply mind their own business. Owen has taken equity positions in numerous companies, including deep-sea drilling and diving operations. “No particular focus, just whatever I like the look of,” he says.

But the real money has clearly come from commercial property. “The first deal I did, someone bought it off me four months later for more profit than I’d made in a year of running my business,” he says.

It was a lesson he took to heart and one that he has just put to good use in developing 16,723 square metres of prime office space at 1 Whitmore Street in Wellington, better known as the shiny new headquarters for the Bank of New Zealand. He has co-developed a string of big offices in the capital.

“I’ve found other ways of making money that didn’t involve providing service to clients where I was at their beck and call,” he summarises.

Despite all this, his main focus since selling the company has been enjoying life. There are three world-class golf courses near his home, including the exclusive Tara Iti and Te Arai courses developed by American billionaire Ric Kayne just a five-minute heli ride away. In fact, our first interview gets cancelled because it was a prime golfing day Down Under.

Then there are five children from different stages of his life, and he enjoys nothing more than spending time with them. His eldest, Kimberley, is leading a vigorous social life in London while the youngest is aged just eight, and lives in Paris.

“I don’t want to get too busy,” he explains. “A few years ago, somebody said to me you’ve got 20 summers left. But I’m doubling that by doing southern and northern hemisphere summers and as a consequence I’m not chasing every single dollar. I would rather spend time with the most important people in my life.”

Counting the summers has perhaps sharpened his focus on wellness. He spends a lot of time in the gym, eats healthily and is a convert to the alleged benefits of the hyperbaric chamber. “It’s the closest thing to the holy grail of anti-ageing,” he explains, before reeling off something sciency relating to telomeres and DNA. “I’ve invested in a four-seater, which is like sitting in a small private jet. I even hold board meetings in there!”

He and his Swedish partner, Madeleine, are currently getting ready for a National Geographic cruise to the Antarctic, with a tailor-made itinerary following in Shackleton’s footsteps. And his yachting exploits have also changed gear. After a couple of much-loved Sunseekers, Steve has taken delivery of a brand-new 40-metre Benetti Oasis with the appropriate moniker Maverick.

Steve’s beloved Wally chase boat is being retired in favour of a new Technohull Alpha 50. It’s no reflection on the design or the brand – more a question of where to find petrol while cruising. He’s taking delivery of a new Technohull this spring, and is very excited about it. “It has Volvo inboards, running on diesel. The Benetti has 55 tonnes of fuel with a bowser, so we can just fill the chase boat up whenever we need.”

Either way, it tells you something about the man. “I believe in having a good chase boat,” he says. “Something very sexy with a presence of entry, like coming into a grand home. Something to take me from Villefranche up to Monaco with great ease, or guests from Formentera to Ibiza in comfort and style.” In other words, a calling card for a true maverick.

First published in the July 2025 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.