Two prominent members of
Harley-Davidson’s board of directors announced their retirements Monday, several months after they, along with outgoing CEO
Jochen Zeitz, were the targets of an activist investor campaign.
Sara Levinson, who has served on the Harley board since 1996, and
Tom Linebarger, who joined the board in 2008, are both stepping down from their roles effective immediately.
Zeitz, Levinson and Linebarger were all targets of
a campaign launched by New York-based
H Partners Management in April.
H Partners sought to shake up Harley-Davidson’s leadership team through its campaign, which aimed to get shareholders to withhold re-electing Zeitz, Levinson, and Linebarger.
H Partners owned a 9.1% stake in Harley-Davidson at the time and cited the company’s continued underperformance as the need for new leadership.
During the course of the company's campaign,
H Partners allegedly learned that Levinson and Linebarger were telling shareholders of their plans to retire within the next year.
Zeitz, Levinson and Linebarger
were all re-elected to their roles in May during Harley-Davidson’s annual meeting of shareholders.
Since the annual meeting was held, H Partners’ stake in Harley-Davidson has decreased to 6.6%, according to recent SEC filings.
Zeitz, who announced his plans to retire earlier this year,
will be replaced by
Topgolf International CEO
Arthur Starrs on Oct. 1.
Also on Monday, Harley-Davidson named the two independent board members who will replace Levinson and Linebarger.
Daniel Nova, general partner at Boston-based
Highland Capital Partners, and
Matt Reintjes, president and CEO of Austin-based
YETI Holdings, are now part of Harley’s board.
“Daniel and Matt distinguished themselves during our search with their broad business expertise spanning commercial strategy, brand and product development, operations, supply chain, and finance,” said
Troy Alstead, presiding director of the Harley board. “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. Daniel has a proven track record of investing in and advising companies through transformative growth, coupled with his deep corporate governance, finance, and capital allocation experience. Matt brings the perspective of a successful, tenured CEO of a public company, leading a premium outdoor brand with an intensely loyal customer base, and the demonstrated ability to create innovative products and spur international growth. Their strengths will further enhance our board, support the execution of our strategy and help propel Harley-Davidson toward its future vision."
With the addition of Nova and Reintjes, Harley's board will have added four new independent members to its nine-member board in the last three years.
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