Money, politics and real estate: Who is Matthew Horncastle and why is he in the headlines?

Who is Matthew Horncastle, and why is he in the headlines and social media feeds?

These are the questions OneRoof tried to answer in a wide-ranging interview with the Christchurch property developer, whose forthright views on money and politics in New Zealand have come under fire in recent weeks.

Horncastle, 32, is the son of Christchurch building magnate Bill Horncastle, and is co-owner and co-founder of Williams Corporation. The firm is one of the country’s most prolific builders of townhouses, but in recent years it has felt the effects of the housing market downturn and scaled back production, as well as ditching its extravagant profile.

This has led to speculation about the health of the business, but in his interview with OneRoof, Horncastle said concern about the future of Williams Corporation was nothing new. “Everyone has been saying that about me for 10 years. It’s so boring, What people don’t realise is I’ve been in business for 15 years, and I’ve been mostly competent at my job the whole way through. I have significantly more wealth than the average person realises accumulated in 15 years.

Horncastle says people don’t have to agree with him or even like him. Photo / Alex Burton

Williams Corporation scaled back townhouse production after the slump. Photo / Supplied

“And anytime I don't have enough wealth I’ve got some really, really wealthy families that back us on anything that we are doing. And the only problem my funders have is that I’m not building enough. My funders are grumpy at me because they want me to do more so they can lend me more money.”

Horncastle set up Williams Corporation in 2012 with childhood friend Blair Chappell – and did so, he said, without any financial backing from his father.

“I built my business myself with no money from my family. That is the truth. I can sympathise with the argument that I’m [from] a well-known property family, so I got essentially a leg-up through culture or through like a legacy, which would be true.

“But like, you drop me in Africa, I’d make money right. Drop me anywhere. I’m just the kind of person that wakes up, goes to work every day, does that for a very, very long time with all my heart, all my soul and that person always makes money. It’s impossible not to make money.”

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Back in his early 20s, Horncastle bought fast cars and showed off his wealth. Those big-ticket items took a backseat during the market downturn, which saw Williams Corporation making drastic changes to its operations.

The company suddenly went from selling 750 homes a year at the peak of the market to 180 at the trough. Staff numbers were cut, offices were closed and contracts and overheads were restructured.

Horncastle sold three cars he wasn’t driving – a 2019 black McLaren, a white Rolls-Royce and a G3 Mercedes, which were reported at the time as being worth a total of $1m.

He told OneRoof that shedding that “stuff” was more a display of marketing and goodwill for its funders rather than one of necessity, adding that the money from selling those items was “almost inconsequential” to Williams Corporation’s cash flow.

The company also stopped hiring a private jet for a while, but kept the multimillion-dollar yacht. “What I wanted to do is I wanted to say to the investors, ‘Hey guys, I’ve lived a pretty high-quality lifestyle, but really my key focus is just running this company, and I’m going to show you that with my actions, not my words’.”

Horncastle and his Williams Corporation co-founder Blair Chappell aboard a private jet. The company paused its use of private jet travel as a signal of solidarity. Photo / Supplied

The company kept hold of the multimillion-dollar yacht. Photo / Supplied

Horncastle does own a nice car, but said he was much happier taking an Uber or a Corporate Cab than being behind the wheel himself.

Even several years on from the slump, the company is building only about 250 homes a year, but Horncastle indicates this is by design. “For us, Williams Corporation is not a big business. We’ve run it two or three times larger than where it is now. We just cruise through building 20 homes a month, it’s good, we are good at it, we have got enough money, we’ve got enough customers, we’ve got enough funders, got enough contractors, and we are just doing our thing,” he said.

“We are cruising in first gear. We are not building a lot at the moment. We are completely and utterly war-ready. I have a smaller business than I had when I was 24.”

The father of one is preparing to take Williams Corporation public next year, but it’s his social media posts that are attracting media attention and wider public scrutiny. In recent weeks, he has labelled Green MP Chloe Swarbrick New Zealand’s most dangerous MP and has offered to give her money to leave politics. He’s also called left-wing men losers and encouraged people to buy gold and silver as monetary insurance. His forays into politics sit among posts that give a glimpse into his family life with his partner and young son.

The posts have noticeably ramped up as the election looms closer, and are winning him scores of new followers, but Horncastle said the views he was expressing online were the same views he has always held. “Remember, I’ve always been this person. During Covid, I said we shouldn’t have lockdowns. I’ve always been the person that’s stood for free people living in a free country. I’ve always taken a stance against government control.”

Horncastle told OneRoof that the views he expressed online had not impacted his business one bit, but even if they did, it was a price he was prepared to pay.

“Let’s pretend it did affect my business. Well, that’s the price of integrity. If the price of integrity is that I make less money, well, I make less money. That doesn’t bother me, I’ve got heaps of money.”

The posts aimed to point out the problems he saw facing the country, and no topic was off-limits, he said. “If I have an opinion, I’ll let the people know my opinion.”

Because even if he did eventually feel the need to go into politics, it would still be several elections away because he wanted to float the business first, he said.

“Do I want to go into politics? No. I love my life as a laissez-faire capitalist, I love Williams Corporation, I love my home, I love my partner, I love my family, I love my kid. My life is absolutely perfect, and if I could do this for the rest of my days, it would be a fantastic life.

“Now, if New Zealand continues to head down a path of expansion of state, expansion of debt, reduction of individual rights, I will run, and I will win. And I will reduce the government, reduce the debt, restore individual rights and leave.”

But for now, he’s focused on changing Williams Corporation’s image from being a residential development company to a comprehensive property company, building the company’s first housing complex in Queenstown (something he regrets not doing sooner) and – if he can get his partner Hannah to agree – having as many children as he can.

“What I like is – I build houses, I run service businesses around real estate, I have a public opinion as a laissez-faire capitalist libertarian – free people, free markets, small government. You may or may not like me, you may or may not want to do business with me, but at least it’s transparent.”

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