Brooks Running CEO Jim Weber to Resign

The veteran CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Brooks Running's Jim Weber will step down after more than 20 years in the top job, the company will announce Tuesday.

Brooks veteran Dan Sheridan, who started with the company in a marketing role in 1998 and rose to become chief operating officer and president, will take over on April 26.

Weber, who brought Brooks back from the brink of bankruptcy, steered it through four different owners and turned it into a billion-dollar-plus brand, told CNBC he's sad to step down and leave what he called “the best work of the world.” But after recovering from cancer several years ago, he said he is looking to “get back” and find more balance in his life.

“I'm very proud of what we built. I've been CEO for 23 years and if you add two years as a board member, it's been 25 years, so it's been a great career,” Weber said. In an interview. “We have a company that has accomplished a lot and has an incredible opportunity going forward. We have momentum right now.”

Sheridan inherits what he called a thriving business. He has taken a larger role in its construction in recent years as Weber groomed him to take over.

Last year, Brooks reached $1.2 billion in sales, an increase of more than 5% globally. Much of that growth occurred in North America, where the company earns about 80% of its total revenue.

Looking ahead, Sheridan has his sights set on global expansion and developing Brooks' product offering. That includes plans to build the first Brooks Running store in China, an “absolute growth market” for the brand, according to Sheridan. She said the company also aims to expand direct sales in the US and grow wholesale partnerships in Europe.

“I'm lucky because not many new CEOs get to step in and inherit what I would call a strong business, a strong culture and a strong brand, and the strength that we have is pretty unique,” Sheridan said. “So I don't have a radical change, I don't have to go in and make radical changes.”

Shortly after Brooks Running became an independent subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway in 2012, Weber and his team were asked to begin succession planning. They began to “formalize” and “professionalize” the process that ultimately led to Sheridan's appointment, Weber said.

“Warren Buffett asked each CEO for a letter every year. And in the letter, you had to say who your successor was, and he wouldn't open it unless he had to,” Weber said. “So we did it and… we started to get really serious about succession planning.”

As Sheridan rose through the ranks from sales manager to executive vice president overseeing global sales, his “insatiable” enthusiasm, curiosity and ambition to learn more about the company caught Weber's attention, the outgoing CEO said.

He identified Sheridan as someone who aspired to lead at a higher level. Over the past five years, Weber has spent time exposing his now successor to different parts of the business, covering everything from strategy and marketing to corporate functions such as legal and finance. As it became clearer over the past two years that Sheridan would replace Weber, the incoming CEO was able to take control and implement the strategy.

“Their fingerprints over the last 24 months are on our strategy,” Weber said.

While Sheridan has been exposed to all facets of the business and is “ready” for the top job, his biggest challenges lie ahead, Weber said. Performance racing is a bright spot in an otherwise stressed footwear market, but Sheridan will have to deal with an uncertain economy, supply chain disruptions, stiff competition and the ever-changing whims of its target consumer. , to name a few obstacles.

“I think what I've learned most during my time with Jim is that in these roles that are very difficult, judgment is the most important thing for any leader,” Sheridan said. “Judgment is something you get through experience, but it's also something you get by listening carefully to the team around you. So I'm sharpening my judgment for the future… and that's been something that Jim has ingrained in me and has helped me tune in. “.