Never Saw That One Coming!

2018 has been a seriously rough year for Gibson Guitars. From quality control issues to abyss levels of debt, this company has truly been on its last leg for the better part of a year. They found themselves over $500 million in debt just a few months ago and tried to fix this by filing for bankruptcy. However, more changes were needed so that the company could have a future.

Former CEO Henry Juszkiewicz exited the company earlier this year amidst pressure from investors whom blamed him for the company’s many ongoing problems which included (and still include) product quality issues, unreasonably high price-points, and the mishandling of finances among many other things. However, Gibson has just found its new CEO and, well, it’s an interesting choice, to say the least…

Meet James ‘JC’ Curleigh. Currently, he is the global president at Levi Strauss & Co, he will be named the new CEO of Gibson starting next month.

James is not the only new executive to come on board. Gibson has also hired Cesar Gueikian as CMO, Kim Mattoon as CFO, Christian Schmitz as CPO and Nat Zilkha as chair of Gibson’s board of directors.

No doubt an interesting choice for CEO, and a welcomed one by consumers at that. I suppose it’s easy to scoff at the idea of a clothing company executive taking the helm of a legendary guitar manufacturer, especially when it’s one with such a rich history and legacy. Let’s hope that James is the right man for the job so that Gibson can once again become the thriving company that it once was…