Biographies

HEAD – Management board

Johan Eliasch

CHAIRMAN, HEAD GROUP

 

Mr. Johan Eliasch has served as Chairman of the Management Board of the HEAD GROUP and Group Chief Executive Officer since September 1995.

Johan Eliasch, born in Sweden in 1962, is the former Special Representative of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and is chairman of Equity Partners, Aman Resorts and London Films. He is also a non-executive director of CV Starr Underwriting Agents, non-executive chairman of Investcorp Europe, a member of board of directors of Foundation for Renewable Energy and Environment, an advisory board member of Brasilinvest, Societe du Louvre, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Capstar, Centre for Social Justice and the British Olympic Association. He is a member of the Mayors of London's, Jerusalem and Rome's International Business Advisory Councils. He is the first President of the Global Strategy Forum, a trustee of the Kew Foundation and a patron of Stockholm University. He is currently chairing the Food, Energy and Water security program at RUSI.

 

Sport

Skiing, Tennis, Golf, Curling, Sailing, Motor Racing and Ice Hockey

HEAD – Management team

Johan Eliash

CHAIRMAN, HEAD GROUP

Klaus Hotter

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT WINTER SPORTS DIVISION

 

Mr. Klaus Hotter, has served as Vice President of HEAD Sport since 1986 and managed our Winter Sports Division. Since November 2002, he was appointed Managing Director of HEAD Sport and assumed full responsibility for the Winter Sports Division. From January 2009 he was appointed Managing Director of HTM Sport, responsible for ski bindings and ski boots. He managed European distribution at Blizzard from 1981 to 1986.

 

Sporting interests

Skiing, Tennis and Golf

Ottmar Barbian

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT RACQUET SPORTS DIVISION

 

Ottmar Barbian, took over responsibilities as International Sales & Marketing Director of the HEAD Racquet Sports Division in 2008. In 2012, he was appointed Executive Vice President, assuming full responsibility of the Racquet Sports Division and joined the Executive Management Team of the HEAD GROUP.

 

Sporting interests

Tennis and Skiing

Gerald Skrobanek

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT DIVING DIVISION

 

Mr. Gerald Skrobanek, joined HEAD in September 2000. After having managed HEAD's Information Technology and Worldwide Operations for 5 years, he became Executive Vice President of the Diving Division in September 2005. Under his leadership, HEAD Swimming, Scuba Schools International (SSI) and rEvo Rebreathers was added to HEAD’s water-sports portfolio. In December 2017 Gerald was appointed as HEAD’s Chief Operating Officer overseeing all of HEAD’s manufacturing, supply-chain and distribution functions. Prior to joining HEAD, Gerald served as Chief Information Officer for several international companies.

 

Sporting interests

Diving, tennis and skiing

Kevin Kempin

CEO & President of HEAD North America

 

Mr. Kevin Kempin, has served as CEO & President of HEAD USA, since 2009. During that time the U.S. received the prestigious “Country of the Year” from the HEAD global marketing group. He has held a variety of high level general management positions, including sales and marketing with the HEAD group, since he joined in 1993. He has also served on the Tennis Industry Association board in the U.S. and currently serves on the Management Board of the HEAD GROUP.

 

Sporting interests

Tennis, Squash, Pickleball, Skiing and Snowboarding

Roman Stepek

VICE PRESIDENT SPORTSWEAR

 

Mr. Roman Stepek joined HEAD Sport GmbH in July, 2016. Mr. Stepek spent 11 years working in Switzerland as a Senior Executive Vice President as well as a Chief Executive Officer for two successful companies producing worldwide ski apparel. Prior to that, Mr. Stepek worked in Southeast Asia, running large production factories for high-end textile apparel for international clients. Mr. Stepek also has experience working with a large North American company in the sporting goods industry.

 

Sporting interests

Skiing, tennis and cycling

Giuseppe Faranna

VICE PRESIDENT LICENSING DIVISION

 

Mr. Giuseppe Faranna joined HEAD in January 2016 as Vice President, Division Manager of Licensing. Prior to joining HEAD, he most recently served as Director of Licensing at IMG Worldwide and built up the global license business of Volkswagen AG, Wolfsburg. He previously worked in various executive positions in Germany and abroad for Companies such as Daimler, BMW, Philips and Crocs, within the Licensing/Brand and Communications area. In 2000, he achieved a Dipl. Betriebswirt (FH) degree at the University of applied studies in Pforzheim, Germany and completed one exchange semester at the Università degli studi di Ancona, Italy.

 

Sporting interests

Tennis and Skiing