Joe Prebich abruptly leaves Mammut North America
Imposter email breaks news that Mammut Switzerland 'terminates' Joe Prebich as U.S. CEO.
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Joe Prebich has exited Mammut North America only months after he was appointed CEO and managing director in March.
In a bizarre twist, Outside Business Journal was first alerted of the news around noon Mountain Time, after someone posing as an official from Mammut North America sent an email saying Prebich had been “fired this week” and was replaced by an interim CEO.
OutsidePR—which represents Mammut—confirmed his exit, but said the message came from a fabricated address and “inappropriately announced the professional separation between Mammut NA CEO Joe Prebich and Mammut AG.”
“Mammut indeed parted ways with Prebich earlier this week, but did not communicate this news to our esteemed media and valued community through this email,” OutsidePR’s Jess Smith said in an email. “Mammut is taking the time to reach out to the internal community with the news of the separation and planned to inform the wider community in an appropriate manner in the coming days.”
Outside Business Journal reached out to Prebich through text message and he quickly responded that he was surprised the news was out, but was unavailable to comment.
Smith said that Kris Kuster, Mammut Switzerland’s managing director, was immediately appointed to replace Prebich—information that was also revealed in the email.
“The Mammut team thanks Joe Prebich for his hard work with the North American Market and wishes him the best in his future endeavors,” Smith said.
Prebich has worked for five brands—including Mammut, Red Bull, Zeal, and Oakley—within the last decade. Before replacing CEO Bill Supple at Mammut North America, he spent three years at Fjällräven as brand VP.
Since Prebich began at Mammut NA in March, five people (including Supple) have left the company for various reasons, including longtime marketing manager Gribbin Loring, who Prebich replaced with Megan McGough. McGough followed Prebich from Fjällräven.
At Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, Prebich told OBJ/The Daily about his plans to reintroduce Mammut in North America with a strong focus on its heritage and sustainability. At the show, Mammut announced that it had acquired Mountain Hub in an effort to build consumer connections and integrate a host of digital tools.
“I believe in big moments in great cities and locations that galvanize a customer around events and activities,” Prebich told OBJ/The Daily back in July 2018. “You’ll see us coming to market with a confident, A-to-Z strategy, which puts us from the backcountry traverse, to the on-store-floor sell-through program, to a national media campaign.”
