Educational Journeys of American Business Leaders at LiveWire
The American business landscape is constantly evolving, and the individuals who lead the charge are as diverse as the nation itself. LiveWire, an industry-leading, all-electric motorcycle brand, exemplifies this diversity through its board members and key personnel. This article delves into the educational backgrounds and professional experiences of these individuals, highlighting the varied paths that have led them to contribute to LiveWire's mission.
LiveWire's Vision and Mission
LiveWire, building on a 10-year journey within Harley-Davidson and established as a separate division in 2019, is on a mission to pioneer the electric motorcycle space and beyond. As a pure-play EV brand with first-mover advantage, LiveWire has brand presence in North America and Europe, with planned expansion into additional markets including Asia. LiveWire has a deep track record of R&D investments and a clearly defined strategy to capture increasing market share and consumer adoption in the growing two-wheel EV transition, following significant investment to date, and a clear path to attractive long-term profitability. Our vision: Building our legend and leading our industry through innovation, evolution and emotion. Our mission: More than building machines, we stand for the timeless pursuit of adventure. Freedom for the soul. Since 1903, Harley-Davidson has defined motorcycle culture with an expanding range of leading-edge, distinctive and customizable motorcycles in addition to riding experiences and exceptional motorcycle accessories, riding gear and apparel. Harley-Davidson Financial Services provides financing, insurance and other programs to help get Harley-Davidson riders on the road.
The Board of Directors: A Symphony of Expertise
The LiveWire Board of Directors comprises individuals with diverse educational backgrounds and extensive professional experience, each bringing unique strengths to the table.
Zeitz: Chairman of the Board, Acting CEO
As announced in December, Zeitz will serve as Chairman of the Board, and as Acting CEO of LiveWire for up to two years following completion of the merger, bringing extensive learnings in the EV sector.
Kjell Gruner: Automotive and Brand Strategy
Kjell Gruner, Chief Executive Officer of Porsche Cars North America, brings extensive automotive and brand strategy experience to the board that will help LiveWire lead in electric. Gruner served as the Chief Marketing Officer of Porsche from September 2010 to October 2020 and as Director of Strategy Mercedes-Benz Cars for Daimler from 2004 to 2010. Gruner's academic credentials include a Masters from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and a PhD scl in Marketing from WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management.
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Bill Cornog: Sustainability and Operations
Bill Cornog, Managing Partner of KKR Capstone, brings proven experience in sustainability and operations to the LiveWire board. Cornog joined KKR Capstone, KKR's portfolio operations team, in 2002 and also serves as a member of KKR's Americas, EMEA, APAC, Infrastructure, TMT Growth Portfolio Management, Investment & Distribution and Valuation Committees. Prior to joining KKR, Cornog was with Williams Communications Group as the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Network Services. Prior to that, Cornog was a partner at The Boston Consulting Group. Cornog currently is a director at Channel Control Merchants, Genesis Care and Laureate Education, all of which are KKR portfolio companies, Laureate being a public company since 2017. Cornog earned a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Dr. John Garcia: Institutional Investment and Entrepreneurship
Representing ABIC, Dr. John Garcia, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of ABIC will serve on the LiveWire Board of Directors. Dr. Garcia also serves as Executive Chairman of AEA Investors LP ("AEA") and, over his 20 plus year of leadership at AEA, has a long history of partnering with institutional investors and helping entrepreneur and family-led businesses maximize their potential and meet their long-term goals.
Harley-Davidson Executives
Harley-Davidson executives Gina Goetter, Chief Financial Officer, Edel O'Sullivan, Chief Commercial Officer, and Bryan Niketh, SVP Motor Company Product and Operations, will also serve on the LiveWire Board of Directors.
Beyond the Boardroom: Key Contributors to LiveWire
The success of LiveWire extends beyond the Board of Directors to a team of experienced professionals with diverse backgrounds.
Marji Ketaily: Operational Expertise
Ms. Ketaily brings over 15 years of operational experience in the Test and Measurement Industry to Livewire. She has held operational management positions in start-ups and large corporations. Marji’s areas of expertise include global front-end customer service solutions, global post-sales support models, business systems implementations and contract manufacturing management. Marji also has an in-depth background in managing all aspects of company acquisitions and mergers.
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Dr. Cynthia Furse: Technical Guidance
Dr. Cynthia Furse acts as the Company’s outside Chief Technical Advisor, offering assistance and technical guidance as needed to the engineering staff. She also provides input to the Board of Directors on strategy and technical directives as a Board Observer. She previously served as a Director and Chairperson of the Board up until February 2017. Dr. Furse helped organize and found LiveWire, which became incorporated in 2003, and is a named inventor on most of the Company’s owned or licensed SSTDR patents. Professionally, Dr. Furse is the Associate Vice President for Research at the University of Utah and a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She received her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University in 1994. Dr. Furse is a Fellow of the IEEE and the has been recognized for her work in a number of ways, including the Engineering Department’s Distinguished Professor 2008, Distinguished Young Alumnus, Professor of the Year in the College of Engineering at Utah State University in 2000, Faculty Employee of the Year in 2002 and received the IEEE Harriett B. Rigas award in 2009.
Ron Vogel: Marketing and Sales Strategies
Ron Vogel brings over 30 years of experience in creating and building companies in a wide variety of industries with over 20 of those years in the Test and Measurement industry. Having successfully launched 6 companies over the past 37 years, Ron brings LiveWire an extensive background of finding the proper marketing and sales strategies for new growing companies and adds a depth of knowledge on building organizations and the resources to help them succeed.
Other Key Contributors
- Mr. Lamb: Joined the Company’s Board of Directors in the spring of 2013. He is a retired partner of the international law firm, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy LLP with over 30 years’ experience in the corporate, real estate, oil and gas, and renewable energy areas.
- Mr. Douglas: Joined the Board of Directors in August 2016 as part of the investment in the Company by Viper Subsea, of which he is a founder and is the Managing Director. Prior to founding Viper.
- Lee: With over 30 years experience in product development of disk drives, printers, personal computers, laptop computers and test equipment, Lee has held upper level management positions of Manager, Director and Vice President of Engineering from start-ups to large corporations. He is the inventor or co-inventor of ten issued patents.
- Jonathan Wu: Became involved in LiveWire’s business in 2013 through LiveWire Asia Pacific, LiveWire’s agent and distributor for handheld products in the Asia Pacific region, and currently supports business development activities in that region.
- Neville M. Bilimoria: Is managing partner of Duane Morris' Chicago office. He is a Chambers USA ranked healthcare law partner with Duane Morris LLP’s Health Law Practice Group and the Cannabis Law Industry Group. Mr. Bilimoria advises health care clients on corporate and litigation matters and counsels hospitals, health systems, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, physicians, physician groups, pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies on a variety of issues, including health care corporate transactions, healthcare fraud and abuse, compliance issues, telemedicine and telehealth, HIPAA and state health privacy law issues, regulatory compliance, and resulting litigation. Mr. Bilimoria is the chair of Duane Morris’ Physician Services Group nationally and the Telehealth Group nationally. Mr. Mr. Bilimoria's corporate work includes representation of clients in transactions for the purchase and sale of healthcare facilities, health clinics and physician practices, as well as counseling on various healthcare contracting issues. He has represented healthcare providers in administrative law matters and disciplinary actions. He has counseled pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies on state and federal regulatory issues. Mr. Mr. Bilimoria was named one of the Top 40 Attorneys in Illinois Under 40 for 2005 (out of a pool of almost 60,000 eligible attorneys). He has also been listed by Illinois Super Lawyers since 2009 in Healthcare Law. A frequent author and speaker on healthcare topics, he is the past Chair of the Chicago Bar Association's Health Law Committee. Mr. Mr. Bilimoria is a member of the American, Illinois State and Chicago bar associations, the American Health Lawyers Association and the Illinois Association of Healthcare Attorneys. He earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Northwestern University, where he received a Kappa Alpha Pi Award for academics and leadership. He received a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.
- Kristin: Is the Founder & CEO of LiveWire Consulting and she is passionate about changing the world of work by changing the way we lead. Kristin spent 20+ years in Corporate America as a senior executive and has a master’s degree in Business from Stanford University. She combines her real-world corporate experience with her extensive education in Leadership Development to assist organizations in improving leadership capabilities, increasing employee engagement and creating healthy, cohesive and resilient teams. As an experienced Executive Coach and facilitator, Kristin works with leaders at every level to help them build their own emotional intelligence and create courage-based cultures throughout their organizations. She has been selected and trained by Dr.
The Importance of Diverse Expertise
The diverse educational backgrounds and professional experiences of LiveWire's leadership are crucial to its success. This variety allows the company to approach challenges from multiple perspectives, fostering innovation and strategic decision-making. From engineering and finance to marketing and law, the collective expertise of LiveWire's team positions it to lead the electric motorcycle industry and achieve its ambitious goals.
Forward-Looking Statements
This communication may contain a number of "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include information concerning Harley-Davidson's, LiveWire EV LLC ("LiveWire")'s or ABIC's possible or assumed future results of operations, business strategies, debt levels, competitive position, industry environment, potential growth opportunities and the effects of regulation, including whether the proposed business combination between LiveWire and ABIC (the "Business Combination") will generate returns for shareholders. These forward-looking statements are based on Harley-Davidson's, LiveWire's or ABIC's management's current expectations, estimates, projections and beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. When used in this communication, the words "estimates," "projected," "expects," "anticipates," "forecasts," "plans," "intends," "believes," "seeks," "may," "will," "should," "future," "propose" and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside Harley-Davidson's, LiveWire's or ABIC's management's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Harley-Davidson, LiveWire, HoldCo and ABIC assume no obligation and, except as required by law, do not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Neither Harley-Davidson, LiveWire, HoldCo nor ABIC gives any assurance that either LiveWire or ABIC will achieve its expectations.
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