Hailing from a Missouri oil family, he is deep in an Australian basketball fight and eager to work with NZ amid China’s ‘destabilising behaviour in the Pacific’.

Sixteen months after Donald Trump announced his nomination in a post on TruthSocial, Jared Novelly has been confirmed by the US Senate as the ambassador to New Zealand. A Republican donor and billionaire with interests spanning property, oil products and sports, Novelly is expected to take up the Wellington posting, which also covers Samoa, the Cook Islands and Niue, within the next two months.

According to a Forbes estimate, the Novelly family net worth in 2024 was $1.4bn (NZ $1.7bn), largely stemming from interests in the Missouri-based Apex Oil. Novelly, who holds degrees from St Louis University and the University of Technology, Sydney, has been largely based in Australia since 2022. In 2020, he took ownership of the Illawarra Hawks basketball team through his US company Crest Sports and Entertainment. The Hawks, alongside the Auckland-based New Zealand Breakers, play in the National Basketball League.

Last year, Novelly reportedly launched a bid to oust Larry Kestelman as owner of the league. The struggle between the two billionaires remains heated, and, according to a report last month in the Guardian, Novelly is “leading a group of aggrieved team owners against the NBL and the man who purchased the competition a decade ago”.

Speaking at the Senate hearing in March, Novelly said he was committed to the programme of the president and the secretary of state, pledging to “work tirelessly to advance President Trump and Senator [Marco] Rubio’s foreign policies”. He said: “In advancing the president’s agenda, we have few better partners than New Zealand. The government of New Zealand consistently supports our goals in the region and beyond. If confirmed, I will do everything in my power to take our relationship to new heights.”

The China challenge

Novelly told senators that his priorities included “expanding our defence partnership with New Zealand”, noting the febrile contest in the Pacific region between China and the US. He said: “Few countries understand the darkening security environment in the Pacific better than New Zealand. Last February, China conducted live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea. I was in the region at the time, and it was very concerning. The exercises led to flight diversions and represented an example of alarming, even destabilising behaviour in the Pacific.”

Novelly was among a group of nominations confirmed last week by a senate vote. New ambassadors typically undergo training with State Department officials in Washington before taking up their posts. He will formally become ambassador on presenting his credentials to the New Zealand governor general, Dame Cindy Kiro.

Winston Peters, who has not previously met Novelly, welcomed his confirmation by the Senate. The foreign minister told The Spinoff via a spokesperson: “New Zealand has a strong and enduring relationship with the United States, and the minister looks forward to welcoming the ambassador to our country.”

An eye on critical minerals in the Pacific 

Novelly commended before the Senate Samoa’s response to external pressures, saying: “In recent years, the government in Apia has adopted a prudent approach to managing relations with the west and China, taking on foreign debt with caution. If confirmed, I would encourage the government in Samoa to continue this approach and ensure it is never pressured into a deal that would compromise its sovereignty.”

Of the Cook Islands, Novelly pointed to critical-mineral seabed mining interests, saying he was eager to “promote the responsible development of seabed mineral resources”, adding the the exclusive economic zone of the Cook Islands “contains possibly the largest cobalt deposits in the world, a key component in batteries and high-strength alloys. A strong partnership with the Cook Islands means a strong supply chain of critical minerals, and this is good for all parties.”

He later said: “I’m so impressed by the cultures in the Pacific Islands. Having spent quite a bit of time in the Pacific Islands, [it’s clear] the oceans are sacred to Pacific Islanders. So the fact that the Cook Islands believes that they can exploit this in a responsible method, I think, is the proper lens to look at it with, as opposed to any lens that we might have.”

Speaking at the confirmation hearings in support of Novelly, Republican senator Eric Schmitt said the role had heightened importance “as communist China seeks to assert itself as the dominant power in the Indo-Pacific”. He said: “As a Five Eyes intelligence partner,  New Zealand shares a special relationship with the United States based on common values, mutual trust and a shared understanding of our adversarial threats. The position of US ambassador to New Zealand carries enormous responsibility to safeguard, strengthen and advance America’s relationship with this important partner while shaping cooperation in ways that reinforce our broader regional posture.”

A long nomination 

Novelly saw his nomination by the White House at first withdrawn and then resubmitted, having at first omitted both the Cook Islands and Niue, with whom formal diplomatic relations had been restored in 2023. He will become the inaugural US ambassador to both Niue and the Cook Islands.

In his social media post in January 2025, Trump wrote that his new ambassador, a “highly respected philanthropist”, would “fight hard to protect our Nation’s interests in the Indo-Pacific, and always put AMERICA FIRST”.

In his first term, Trump appointed to New Zealand Scott Brown, who arrived on the back of stories reporting a colourful background including posing as a centrefold for Cosmopolitan magazine. His time as ambassador to New Zealand included allegations of inappropriate comments in Samoa, which he dismissed as “rumour and innuendo”, several electric guitar solos, and a sparky interview with Kim Hill. Brown is currently running in New Hampshire for a US Senate seat.