Harley-Davidson’s search for a new CEO is turning out to be anything but an easy ride for the iconic American motorcycle maker.
Investment firm H Partners, a major investor with 9.1% of Harley’s shares, in an open letter filed on Wednesday, urged fellow shareholders to remove three longtime directors from Harley’s eight-member board at its annual meeting in mid-May by withholding votes for them. H Partners said the board had not held Harley CEO Jochen Zeitz accountable for what it called his repeated “strategic execution failures” and “severe underperformance.” (Harley announced last week that Zeitz, CEO since 2020 and board member for 18 years, would resign but stay in his role until a successor is found. H Partners wants him out now.)
