Levi’s Chip Bergh Sets Retirement Date

Angela Velasquez
·3 min read

Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) announced Thursday that CEO Chip Bergh will retire from the company as of April 26, 2024. Michelle Gass, the company’s current president, will succeed Bergh as president and CEO effective Jan. 29, 2024.

LS&Co. disclosed its transition plan in November 2022 when it was announced that Gass was exiting her role as Kohl’s CEO to lead the Levi’s brand and the company’s global digital and commercial operations. The board of directors said the plan was for Gass succeed Bergh as CEO within the next 18 months.

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Since starting her role with the San Francisco jeanswear giant in January this year, Gass has been focused on accelerating international growth, “positioning the Levi’s brand as a head-to-toe denim lifestyle apparel business and transitioning LS&Co.’s operating model to a DTC-first organization,” the company stated.

“In the past year, Chip and I have traveled the globe, and I’ve had the privilege of meeting many members of the LS&Co. team,” Gass said in a press release. “Those interactions have only underscored my confidence in the incredible potential of our business, the strength of our brands and the power of the company’s values-driven, profits-through-principles approach. I am incredibly excited to lead our amazing team and to realize our ambition of becoming a world-class direct-to-consumer retailer. As we build on our 170-year legacy, I’m more confident than ever that we have the right team and strategies in place to unleash the next era of sustainable, profitable growth for LS&Co.”

Bergh has been elected as executive vice chair of the board until his retirement date. Then he will transition to the role of senior advisor until the end of the company’s 2024 fiscal year.

“We would like to thank Chip for his inspirational leadership and unwavering commitment to the company over the last 12-plus years,” said Bob Eckert, chairman of the LS&Co. board of directors. “Chip has transformed this company and will leave it far better than when he arrived. I know we will continue to benefit from Chip’s strategic perspective as he continues to serve on the company’s board.”

Since 2011, Bergh has led the company’s turnaround by evolving the Levi’s from a predominately men’s U.S. wholesale bottoms business to one with a growing women’s category and a global DTC business. In addition to taking the denim behemoth public with a successful IPO in 2019, he led the acquisition of Beyond Yoga in 2021 and helped Levi’s reclaim its place in pop culture through strategic collaborations.

“It has been an incredible privilege to lead this great company as CEO for the last 12 years. I want to especially thank my team, the board of directors and the family shareholders for all their support through the years,” Bergh said. “The Levi’s brand is the strongest it has ever been, and as we pivot to become more of an omni-channel, direct-to-consumer retailer, it is time for new leadership.

“While I’ve known Michelle for more than a decade, my time working closely with her this past year has given me great confidence that her experience, track record of innovation and impact, and passion for the business will position the company for sustainable, profitable growth and significant shareholder and stakeholder value creation,” he added.