Jochen Zeitz Short biography
Jochen Zeitz is a German businessman who is the CEO, president, and chairman of the board of Harley-Davidson, Inc. He is also the chairman of LiveWire Inc. and a board member of The B Team and Cranemere. Zeitz is a co-founder of The B Team with Sir Richard Branson and the founder of the Zeitz Foundation for Intercultural Ecosphere Safety. He is also the founder of Zeitz MOCAA, a contemporary art museum in Cape Town, South Africa.
Zeitz was born in Mannheim, Germany, in 1963. He studied in Germany, Italy, France, and the United States, and graduated from the European Business School in International Marketing and Finance. Zeitz began his professional career with Colgate-Palmolive in New York and Hamburg. He joined PUMA in 1990, and in 1993 was appointed Chairman and CEO, becoming the youngest CEO in German history to head a public company at the age of 30. Under Zeitz's leadership, PUMA became one of the top three sporting goods brands in the world.
In 2008, Zeitz founded the Zeitz Foundation for Intercultural Ecosphere Safety, a non-profit organization that supports creative and innovative sustainable projects and solutions. In 2014, he co-founded The B Team with Sir Richard Branson, an initiative that brings together the world's top business leaders to promote socially and environmentally conscious business practices.
Zeitz is a recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the "Strategist of the Year" three times from the Financial Times, "Entrepreneur of the Year", “Trendsetter of the Year” and “Best of European Business Award 2006″. In 2004, he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit of Germany. In 2009, he was named Honorary Warden of Kenya by the Kenya Wildlife Service.
