Athletic footwear industry veteran Jim Stroesser has been appointed CEO of Pony International LLC (Pony).
Stroesser, who previously served as Vice President of Sales at Converse, as National Sales Director at Oakley, and as a senior sales executive at Nike, moves to Pony from his position as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Global Footwear at Quiksilver and Roxy.
Stroesser commented that, “With Pony's remarkable history of designing and making shoes for world-class athletes and championship teams across diverse disciplines, including basketball, football, tennis, and boxing, the foundation for creating an exciting brand for the twenty-first century is enormous. I am charged about bringing Pony back into the forefront of the global athletic footwear market.”
In transactions completed recently, Infinity Associates LLC and Symphony Holdings Ltd. acquired 100% of Pony. California-based Infinity Associates and Hong Kong-based Symphony Holdings have teamed up in previous acquisitions, including Converse Inc. in 2001 and Haggar Corp. in 2005.
Pony was founded in 1972 and quickly became one the most distinctive sports brands in the world. Among the many athletes who wore Pony shoes were Wilt Chamberlin, Pele, Joe Frazier, Dan Marino, Reggie Jackson, Muhammad Ali, Tracy Austin and Spud Webb.
