Press Release | April 18, 2022
Kjell Gruner and William (Bill) Cornog to Join LiveWire Board of Directors
This is a press release from Harley-Davidson…
Milwaukee, WI (April 18, 2022) – Harley-Davidson announces that, on completion of the merger with AEA-Bridges Impact Corp. (“ABIC”), Kjell Gruner and William (Bill) Cornog will join the Board of Directors of LiveWire Group, Inc. (“LiveWire”), along with Dr. John Garcia, Jochen Zeitz and three additional Harley-Davidson executives.
2018 Harley-Davidson 115th Anniversary Celebration.
Jochen Zeitz, Chairman, President and CEO of Harley-Davidson:
“With LiveWire soon to be the first publicly traded EV motorcycle company in the U.S., I’m excited that Kjell and Bill will be joining the LiveWire Board. Both Kjell and Bill bring a wealth of experience as leaders that will benefit LiveWire on its journey to be the ultimate electric motorcycle brand in the world, leading the electrification of the sport.”
Kjell Gruner, Chief Executive Officer of Porsche Cars North America, brings extensive automotive and brand strategy experience to the board that will help LiveWire lead in electric. Gruner served as the Chief Marketing Officer of Porsche from September 2010 to October 2020 and as Director of Strategy Mercedes-Benz Cars for Daimler from 2004 to 2010. Gruner earned a Masters from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and a PhD scl in Marketing from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management.
Bill Cornog, Managing Partner of KKR Capstone, brings proven experience in sustainability and operations to the LiveWire board. Cornog joined KKR Capstone, KKR’s portfolio operations team, in 2002 and also serves as a member of KKR’s Americas, EMEA, APAC, Infrastructure, TMT Growth Portfolio Management, Investment & Distribution and Valuation Committees. Prior to joining KKR, Cornog was with Williams Communications Group as the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Network Services. Prior to that, Cornog was a partner at The Boston Consulting Group. Cornog currently is a director at Channel Control Merchants, Genesis Care and Laureate Education, all of which are KKR portfolio companies, Laureate being a public company since 2017. Cornog earned a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Announced LiveWire Board Members:
As announced in December, Zeitz will serve as Chairman of the Board, and as Acting CEO of LiveWire for up to two years following completion of the merger, bringing extensive learnings in the EV sector.
Representing ABIC, Dr. John Garcia, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of ABIC will serve on the LiveWire Board of Directors. Dr. Garcia also serves as Executive Chairman of AEA Investors LP (“AEA”) and, over his 20 plus year of leadership at AEA, has a long history of partnering with institutional investors and helping entrepreneur and family-led businesses maximize their potential and meet their long-term goals.
Harley-Davidson executives Gina Goetter, Chief Financial Officer, Edel O’Sullivan, Chief Commercial Officer, and Bryan Niketh, SVP Motor Company Product and Operations, will also serve on the LiveWire Board of Directors.
For more information, visit www.livewire.com
