Quiksilver founder appoints Andy Mooney as sucessor

By

Bruno Joly

Published
Jan 3, 2013

Quiksilver has kicked off the year by ending a chapter. Robert B. McKnight, founder of the Californian brand, head of the company for the past 30 years is now Executive Chairman. Filling the position of CEO is Andy Mooney, a move which should provide some peace of mind for worried shareholders considering the turbulent market.

The new CEO spent the past 11 years at entertainment giant Disney where he served as Chairman of Disney Consumer Products, overseeing Disney’s worldwide licensing, publishing and retail businesses. Prior to that, Mooney spent 20 years at Nike, where he held various senior level roles with global responsibility, including Chief Marketing Officer, Founder of Nike’s equipment business and General Manager of Nike’s global apparel business.

Between the years of 1979 and 1991, Robert B. McKnight held the position of President at Quiksilver, as well as Chairman and CEO. He was re-appointed President in 2008 following the departure of Bernard Mariette. Aged 59, he is now looking to take a back seat in operations.

Unlike many of its competitors, Quiksilver has managed to keep up sales for 2012, year ended 31 October. The Quiksilver group (Quiksilver, Roxy, DC) has even reported a 3% increase in revenue to 1.5 billion euros (2.01 billion dollars). In Europe, however, activity is declining.