Harley board shuffles ahead of new CEO’s arrival
There are lots of new faces in Harley’s leadership team, as the board of directors reshuffles in preparation for a new CEO.
Harley-Davidson’s board of directors is setting the table for the arrival of the company’s new CEO next week, with two of its members being swapped out.
In line with an apparent agreement made back in May, long-standing members Sara Levinson and Norman Thomas Linebarger will be following current CEO Jochen Zeitz out the door as part of a major restructuring of the MoCo’s leadership.
Taking the places of Levinson and Linebarger will be Daniel Nova and Matt Reintjes, the latter being the current president CEO of yet another darling of bro culture: YETI.
Nova, meanwhile, serves as general partner of Highland Capital Partners, a venture capital fund.
"Daniel [Nova] and Matt [Reintjes] distinguished themselves during our search with their broad business expertise spanning commercial strategy, brand and product development, operations, supply chain, and finance,” Presiding Director Troy Alstead is quoted as saying in a media release. “These are skills that will be invaluable to Harley-Davidson, the Board, and Artie Starrs, as he steps into the CEO role later this year."
Starrs, the former CEO of Topgolf will take over the top job next week, on 1 October.
So, we’ve got the combined spirit energy of Harley-Davidson, Topgolf, and YETI. Roughly how many times a day do you suppose the phrase “Let’s f—ing go!” will be heard in the halls of Harley HQ?
Starrs’ appointment served as the conclusion to a major bust-up within Harley leadership earlier this year, when board member Jared Dourdeville abruptly tendered his resignation and slammed the existing leadership over a number of things, including a lack of “winning culture.”
This action culminated in two things: first, CEO since 2020 Jochen Zeitz announced that he would be stepping down; second, major shareholders H Partners, attempted to derail the board and reportedly forced an agreement that Levinson and Linebarger would retire.
"Daniel [Nova] has a proven track record of investing in and advising companies through transformative growth,” Alstead is quoted as saying. “Matt brings the perspective of a successful, tenured CEO of a public company, leading a premium outdoor brand with an intensely loyal customer base.”
Both these things will be helpful as Harley attempts to right the ship after several tumultuous years.
"We are deeply grateful to Tom [Linebarger] and Sara [Levinson] for their years of dedicated service to Harley-Davidson and our shareholders,” Alstead said. “Throughout their tenure, they have guided the company through significant challenges with steady leadership and unwavering commitment. We thank them sincerely for their contributions and wish them the very best in their future endeavors."
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Chris Cope is a fourth-generation journalist, originally from Texas. He has lived in the UK for roughly two decades and has been writing about motorcycles for most of that time. He has written for dozens of publications and websites in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
