Bob McKnight started Quiksilver Inc. in 1976 with a surfing buddy. Twenty years,and $2 billion in yearly sales,later, it’s still a buddy act.
In the early days, McKnight himself put snaps on surf trunks while Aussie Jeff Hakman ironed.
These days, McKnight plots strategy and sets Quiksilver’s corporate culture with Frenchman Bernard Mariette, the company’s president.
McKnight, a laid-back surfer with business savvy, is Quiksilver personified. Yet Mariette has emerged as a clear, strong No. 2 whose influence was evident in last year’s big buy of France’s Skis Rossignol SA.
“We share all the big strategic decisions,” Mariette said. “We discuss them. Bob is mentoring me a lot.”
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Mariette: “You have to live by example” |
The relationship reflects the tone McKnight has struck at Quiksilver.
“It’s definitely collaborative and team oriented,” said Marty Samuels, president of Quiksilver Americas. McKnight “tries to get talented and passionate people and let them run their show. He is there to support, advise or encourage them.”
Adds Gregg Solomon, Quiksilver’s senior vice president of retail: “The greatest thing about this company is the amount of autonomy you are given.”
Mariette leads a lot like McKnight.
Workers say they’re very approachable, often holding meetings at their homes. Both are casual, commonly wearing Quiksilver shirts and shorts to work. Both have a keen business sense, they say.
In many ways, Mariette seems like McKnight’s French half brother. But there’s a difference: McKnight surfs. Mariette is a snowboarder.
“They could have rejected me, not being a surfer,” Mariette said. “Bob is always there supporting me.”
McKnight and Mariette run Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver with a team of vice presidents and presidents. In all, nine people make up the company’s executive team. Quiksilver has 1,650 employees in Orange County and 9,000 worldwide.
The corporate culture is casual,flip-flops and T-shirts kind of casual.
The management style of McKnight and Mariette: chat with workers at the company’s Echo Beach Caf & #233;, spend a week in Montana talking tactics, or meet at one of their homes for a business powwow while taking in an ocean view.
Mariette, who spends a lot of time in France these days after the Rossignol deal, routinely holds meetings at his Newport Coast home, where he can work without a lot of interruptions.
One recent day, Ken Block, chief brand manager and founder of Vista-based DC Shoes, which Quiksilver bought in 2004 for $100 million, came to talk strategy and get some advice about a team rider.
The two chatted on the backyard patio while Mariette’s little pug dog cruised around.
Ever the Frenchman, Mariette said he’d rather meet people in person. He’s not big on phone calls or e-mail, though he uses both everyday to talk to folks around the globe.
He joined Quiksilver in 1994. Previously, Mariette was president of Quiksilver’s European operations.
McKnight convinced him to join the company, Mariette said.
At the time, Mariette was working at Timberland Co. in France and had turned down an overture from a headhunter to work at Quiksilver’s European operations.
“I was super happy with Timberland,” Mariette said.
Mariette eventually became buddies with some workers at Quiksilver Europe. They convinced him to fly to the U.S. and meet McKnight.
Mariette said he dined with McKnight and his Kiwi wife, Annette, at Five Feet restaurant in Laguna Beach.
“I thought, ‘I love these people,'” Mariette said. “They were very nice, real people.”
Mariette was sold. He started as vice president of European operations and a year later became president of Europe.
In 2001, McKnight asked Mariette to move to the U.S. and help him run the company as president.
Mariette relocated from France to Orange County with his wife and kids.
“I’m staying here forever,” he said. “We’re so lucky.”
The team at Quiksilver is tight, Mariette said.
They take family vacations together. They’re proud to have their kids wear some of the hottest surf and skate clothes. Some have become best friends (including McKnight and Mariette).
Sometimes there are fights.
“But you agree to disagree,” Mariette said. “We all know when we don’t know.”
McKnight has built a global staff that lives the company motto: “work hard, play hard, respect, give back,” Mariette said. “You have to live by example.”
Executives surf at lunch, skateboard, snowboard, party, hang with family, travel and commonly work until midnight, even on weekends.
“It has to be your passion,” Mariette said. “You have to believe in it. We breathe and live Quiksilver.”
Beyond McKnight and Mariette, there are vice presidents of global operations, finance (as well as a chief financial officer), legal and human resources. There are three division presidents for the company’s North America, European and Asia Pacific operations.
Quiksilver has added to its executive team. But most of the team has been running things for the past decade.
“The executive team that was here 10 years ago is still here today and has managed to develop our people into a very different organization,” said Steven Brink, chief financial officer. “We’re still the same fundamentally, but the organization is clearly much larger and more complex today.”
Quiksilver’s 2005 sales were $1.8 billion. With Rossignol and continued growth, its sales outlook for 2006 is $2.25 billion to $2.27 billion.
With Mariette playing a bigger role, some may wonder if he’ll be running Quiksilver on his own one day.
There’s no open talk of succession at Quiksilver. McKnight, 53, may be doing less day-to-day stuff, but he’s beloved by employees, peers and Wall Street.
“He’s too young,” Mariette said of McKnight. “There’s no reason for anybody to retire. The company is growing and we need everybody on board.”
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French Connection
Quiksilver Inc. President Bernard Mariette is spending a lot of time in his native France these days.
He’s overseeing the integration of ski maker Skis Rossignol SA,a buy many on Wall Street initially saw as risky.
Rossignol had been losing money and market share prior to Quiksilver’s $320 million purchase.
Quiksilver shopped around before snatching up Rossignol, according to Mariette. Rossignol needed work but had strong name recognition and a diamond: Huntington Beach-based Cleveland Golf.
Mariette and other executives say the buy could transform Quiksilver from the king of surf and skate to a major player in the broader outdoor sports industry. It’s also the company’s biggest challenge.
Mariette has played a key role in orchestrating a Rossignol turnaround.
New executives and designers have been installed at Rossignol. The company also got a new headquarters for its business in France and the U.S.
Quiksilver has cut jobs, consolidated distribution and closed a Rossignol factory to make operations more efficient.
Rossignol’s clothes and marketing also were revamped.
Mariette said he brought some of the brightest Quiksilver marketing execs to his 300-year-old farmhouse in France to brainstorm ways to reinvigorate Rossignol.
He said he was awed by the creative energy.
“It’s very rare I say, ‘No, it’s going to be this way, not that way,'” Mariette said. “It’s really a team. You can’t win on your own.”
,Jennifer Bellantonio
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The Team
Robert McKnight
: 53, cofounder, chairman, chief executive. Started company in 1976. President, 1979 to 1991; chairman, chief executive since 1991. Bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Southern California.
Bernard Mariette
: 44, president, director since 2001, president, Group Quiksilver-Rossignol. Joined in 1994 as vice president, director general. Previously was deputy general manager of Timberland Co., France and Spain. Held various positions with L’Oreal SA. Bachelor’s in accounting, master’s in marketing and finance from France’s Montpellier University. MBA in international business from Britain’s Bradford University.
David Morgan
: 46, executive vice president, global operations and finance. Joined Quiksilver as executive vice president in February. Began career at Arthur Andersen in London. From 1991 to 2006, held various executive posts at L’Oreal. Bachelor’s in French from Durham University in England.
Charles Exon
: 57, executive vice president, legal affairs, director. Joined in 2000. Practiced law earlier in career, including seven years as a partner with Hewitt & McGuire LLP, where he served as outside counsel for Quiksilver. Bachelor’s in English from University of Missouri, master’s in communications from Stanford University, law degree from University of Southern California.
Steven Brink
: 45, chief financial officer, principal accounting officer, treasurer. Joined in 1996. Previously was senior manager in the trade group of Deloitte & Touche LLP. Bachelor’s in business from California State University, Los Angeles.
Pierre Lalande
: 48, senior vice president of global human resources. Joined in 1998 as human resources director, Quiksilver Europe. Promoted to his current position in 2004. Human resources consultant, 1989 to 1998 in Paris at Sweden’s Mercuri Urval. Recruited for Timberland, Quiksilver, others. Bachelor’s from the University of Bordeaux.
Pierre Agn & #269;s
: 42, president, Quiksilver Europe. First joined Quiksilver marketing department in 1987. Promoted to managing director in 2003; current position in 2005. Former member of the French surf team. Cofounder of Quiksilver licensee Omareef.
Marty Samuels
: 56, president, Quiksilver Americas. Joined in 1996 as executive vice president, sales, national marketing. Promoted to his current post in 2002. Previously an executive at Mervyns, senior vice president, general merchandise manager at Millers Outpost, executive vice president, No Fear. Bachelor’s in economics from Colgate University.
Clive Fitts
: 52, president, Quiksilver Asia Pacific. Joined in 1989 as financial controller, appointed managing director in 1994. Named to current post in 2002. CPA.
