K.'s father George Key died in 1967. His Austrian-Jewish immigrant mother is Ruth Key (née Lazar). K. earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting from the University of Canterbury in 1981. He has attended management studies courses at Harvard University. K. and his wife Bronagh married in 1984. They have two children, Stephie and Max. In 2008, K. had an estimated wealth of US$24 million.

K. began working as a foreign exchange dealer at Elders Finance in Wellington, and rose to the position of head foreign exchange trader two years later, then moved to Auckland-based Bankers Trust in 1988. In 1995, he joined Merrill Lynch as head of Asian foreign exchange in Singapore. That same year he was promoted to Merrill's global head of foreign exchange, based in London, where he has earned around US$2.25 million a year. Some co-workers called him "the smiling assassin" for maintaining his usual cheerfulness while sacking hundreds of staff. K. was a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the New York Federal Reserve Bank from 1999 to 2001.

In 2001, on learning of his interest in pursuing a political career, the New Zealand National Party recruited him. At the 2002 elections, K. was elected, and re-elected in 2005. In 2004, K. was made the party spokesman for finance, and in 2006 leader of the Opposition. K. is Prime Minister-elect following the general election on 8 November 2008 which signalled an end to the Labour Party's nine year administration. 

K. is quoted as saying "some form of orientation towards privatisation in health, education and superannuation makes sense." In 2003, K. supported  the United States and Australia in sending troops to Iraq. K. is Jewish through his maternal lineage. Upon becoming Prime Minister, he would be the third premier of New Zealand with Jewish ancestry (Julius Vogel and Francis Bell being the other two).

Werke von / Works of K.: 

Literatur über / Writings concerning K.: 

Letzte Änderung / Last update: 10.11.2008 

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