Boris Johnson’s Asia-based brother Max on his investment banking and wellness work, what he realised because of the pandemic – and his favourite Rolex watch

Jan 13 , 2022

Max Johnson, the youngest brother of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has lived in Hong Kong since 2012. Photo: Handout

There is a strong family resemblance between Maximilian Johnson and his older half-brother, Britain’s Prime Minister Boris – though Max, as he introduces himself, is 22 years younger and laughs, “I’d like to think I am better looking.”

He first came to Hong Kong in 2012 to work at investment bank Goldman Sachs and found the family connection was more of a handicap than a help.

“I found it a bit of a hindrance, especially at Goldman Sachs, because whenever I would meet anybody in business, some people thought that I was where I am because of my family relation. And that’s always been something that I’ve had to deal with as I tried to forge my own path.”

Max Johnson in Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

The youngest of six siblings, Max followed in Boris’s footsteps and attended Eton College and then Oxford, graduating in Russian and Polish – he is also fluent in French, and speaks Mandarin. He became the first student from the UK to attend the MBA programme at Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management in Beijing, and was the first Britain to run the Pyongyang Marathon in North Korea.

In 2016, he opened investment and advisory firm MJ Capital in Hong Kong. “We work with private equity funds, investment management funds, and typically what clients want is Asian exposure and Chinese investors. I introduce them to joint venture partners or investors,” says Johnson, who is temporarily ensconced in Bali.

“I’m also on the board of a company called Reviv, which administers vitamin boosters, IV intravenous drips, DNA testing, and they tell you what you should or should not eat,” he says. “I’ve just been asked to join the China Britain Business Council, which is like the British Chamber of Commerce. I’m on their China committee, which feeds into my broader mission in business to improve relations between China and the UK.”

Max Johnson enjoys playing tennis. Photo: @maxjohnsonofficial/Instagram

With all that going on, he still manages to fit family and downtime into his work schedule. “I wake up about 7am because our baby usually wakes me, ” he says. “The morning is spent having breakfast and making sure that the baby’s had breakfast. And then I will get onto my work. I’ll try and do a good chunk in the morning. After lunch, I take an hour to exercise. I like to play tennis, or I might hit the gym or swim, it breaks up the day. And then I do more work in the afternoon. But mainly things start for me after dinner, because that’s when Europe is in its daytime. Typically, I work from about 9pm until midnight.”

The pandemic has made him realise how valuable time is. “Time is a precious resource and therefore I will be frugal with how I choose to spend it,” says Johnson. “It has improved my own approach to relationships and I will make the effort to be closer to people because, as we’ve seen, those people can be taken away from us very easily.”

He is looking forward to travelling back to China when the pandemic is over. “I’d like to get to China more to attend conferences and events where I’ve been invited to speak. Just getting in front of people would be great rather than getting in front of a computer screen.”

Max Johnson’s preferred watch – Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona

Rolex’s Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona. Photo: Rolex

“I bought it when I first started as an investment banker in Hong Kong. It was the most expensive watch I had owned. I put it on with my cufflinks and my smart tie. I just thought that I looked incredible. And then as I got older, I realised that I was wearing the watch not because it was telling me the time but it was projecting a story about myself to other people.”

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XXIV 2021

Johnson – temporarily based in Bali – moved to Hong Kong in 2012 to work at Goldman Sachs, then opened his own firm MJ Capital, where clients want ‘Chinese investors’
A polyglot, he attended Oxford and Eton College, is on the board of wellness company Reviv, and keeps fit by swimming and playing tennis