Hurley is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, worldwide marketing and selling of surf apparel and accessories. The company's headquarters is in Costa Mesa, California. From 2002 to 2019, Hurley was a subsidiary of Nike, Inc. In 2019 Hurley was sold to branding and licensing company Bluestar Alliance LLC.
History
Hurley was founded in 1979 by 23-year-old Bob Hurley as Hurley Surfboards//International Pro Designs. Hurley worked for five years as a surf board shaper for various companies; including Lightning Bolt; Wind-an-Sea and Wave Tools. While becoming known as one of the premiere shapers in Southern California, Hurley licensed the U.S. rights to the up-and-coming Australian surf brand Billabong, and formed Billabong USA in 1983. Founding partners in Billabong USA besides Hurley were Bob Rowland, and as limited partners Chip Rowland, Mike Ochsner, Joe Knoernschild, Tom Fletcher and Bill Hurley. By the mid-1980s, Billabong USA was doing really well. Bob and his team were committed to thinking and doing things differently. The team took full responsibility for design, sourcing, marketing and financing. In 1998, the U.S. licensing rights for Billabong were up for renewal after the company had grown to over $70M in sales in America. The USAmanagement team decided to not renew the USA license for Billabong USA and in 1999 Hurley International was born. Founding working partners of Billabong USA Hurley, Knoernschild, Ochsner and Bill Hurley transitioned over to Hurley International. Billabong USA's designer Lian Murray also became a partner with the newly created Hurley International. On February 22, 2002, the company was sold to Nike, Inc. for an undisclosed amount. On June 4, 2012, Nike announced that Bob Hurley would assume the interim CEO role at Hurley International, LLC. replacing Michael Egeck who has decided to leave the company. Hurley stepped down as CEO in 2015 and was replaced by Bob Coombes. In June 2019, Nike Inc. appointed John Schweitzer as CEO and CFO of the Hurley brand. On October 29, 2019, Nike announced the sale of Hurley to Bluestar Alliance LLC for an undisclosed amount. On December 28, 2019, surf publication Beach Grit reported that Hurley would not renew the contracts of professional surfers it sponsors. A major part of the company's success has been the endorsement of pop-punk bands such as Blink-182 and All Time Low. Furthering their involvement in the music industry, Hurley sponsors the heavy metal bandAvenged Sevenfold and reggae band The Green.
