Billabong US President wants to surf more, quits job

Ed Leasure was, until recently, President of Billabong US. Hardly a breezy job. While the average retirement age in the USA is 62, Ed just didn’t wanna do another three years. The 59-year-old has stepped down from his position in the most transparent fashion possible: By telling the company and its shareholders that he just wants to “surf more.”

“After getting into the business to surf more, I’m now stepping back from the business to surf more,” he said in a statement. You must applaud a man who offers this as his only reason for quitting such a powerful role.

Ed started making boards in his Florida garage back in 1972 before funding the Quiet Flight chain in the US. As Bloomberg says, Ed’s retirement after a 40-year career in the biz comes as Billabong CEO Neil Fiske “seeks to revive a brand that was written off as worthless less than three years ago.”

The newly-vacated role will be filled by Shannan North. And, “Under Fiske, who took over in September 2013, Billabong reported its first full-year profit since 2011 in the 12 months ended June 2015,” says Bloomberg. Still, the brand’s current value of US$418m is a long way from the 2007 worth of A$3.84 billion. Damn you, GFC!

In other Billabong news, just ICYMI, here’s Italo Ferreira: