Top Billabong Group executive Mark Tinkess is departing the company after 13 years, Shop-eat-surf has confirmed.
Mark most recently served as Executive Vice President for RVCA and VonZipper. His last day is today.
I reached Mark via email Thursday night, and asked why he decided to leave now.
“As you can imagine, I’ve seen both sides of the coin during my time there but overall it has been a rewarding and positive experience,” he said. “At the same time, I just started to feel more and more it was time for a change. I’d reached of lot of my professional goals and some personal goals as well. Long story short, I made the decision to move on.”
I followed up with Billabong spokesman Chris Fogarty to see if Mark will be replaced, and he said they are actively searching for a Global General Manager for RVCA.
“We thank Mark for his contributions to the organization and wish him the best,” Fogarty said.
I asked Mark what he plans to do next.
“I have no specific plan at the moment, at least nothing I’m willing to talk about,” he said. “I can tell you I’m looking forward to spending some time up in Santa Cruz and anyone who knows me will tell you there will be a lot of surfing and mountain biking involved.”
Finally, I asked Mark for some highlights during his time at the Billabong group.
“As I mentioned earlier, overall my time with Billabong has been positive and frankly, I consider it a privilege to have been a part of the team,” he said. “I have had the opportunity to be a part of and help drive the growth of three amazing brands: Element, VonZipper and RVCA. Who could complain about that?
“The last several years at RVCA have been particularly rewarding having had the opportunity work with a talented team and a visionary founder,” Mark said. “To cap it all off, RVCA’s recent SIMA Image award for Men’s Brand of the Year was truly rewarding and perhaps the proudest moment of my career.”
