20 Mar Skullcandy names Nike+ executive Hoby Darling as next CEO
March 18–Skullcandy, Inc., the Park City, Utah, headphones company, announced Monday that Nike digital veteran Hoby Darling would be its next president and chief executive officer.
Darling has been general manager of Nike+ Digital Sport. During his tenure with Nike, Darling was a member of the Nike Affiliates Global Leadership team and served as the head of strategy and planning for Nike Affiliates (Converse, Cole Haan, Hurley and Umbro).
He had been set to be one of 30 mentors participating in Nike+ Accelerator, which on Monday named 10 companies that would participate in three-month program.
Nike spokeswoman Mary Remuzzi said on Monday, “We are happy to still have him as a mentor if he chooses to continue to be one. ”
Prior to Nike, Darling served as Senior Vice President, Strategic Development and General Counsel at Volcom from its initial public offering in 2005 until its sale to PPR in 2011. Darling was named to Sporting Goods Business’ 40 Under 40 in Sports in 2010.
“I am extremely excited to join the Skullcandy team at this early stage of the company’s global growth cycle,” Darling said in a news release. “I have been admiring the brand’s progress since (Interim Chief Executive Officer and board member) Rick (Alden) started the company 10 years ago, and I see tremendous potential to leverage the platform and culture that is already in place.
“My years at Volcom and Nike have given me the opportunity to work side by side with world-class leaders of these great brands, and I look forward to applying all of my experience and learning to execute the near-term initiatives recently outlined by Rick and successfully driving Skullcandy forward over the long-term.”
Alden said in a statement: “I can’t be more pleased to welcome Hoby to the Skullcandy team. The board is acutely aware of the needs of this organization and has moved swiftly to find the greatest resource to meet those needs. Hoby’s involvement with both emerging and global brands makes him the ideal person to lead this company.”
Skullcandy was launched in 2003.
— Allan Brettman; twitter.com/abrettman