Vince Tyra to be President and CEO of Gildan Activewear from January 15, 2024
13 January 2024: Board of Directors of Gildan Activewear Inc. has announced that Vince Tyra will assume the role of President and Chief Executive Officer from 15th January 2024. At the Board’s request, Vince Tyra has made himself available to move the start date from 12th February to respond to requests to engage early with key stakeholders and bring needed stability and leadership to the Company as it embarks on its next chapter of success.
“When the Board began the external phase of the CEO search back in May of 2023, we knew that scaling the Company in an increasingly complex and competitive environment demanded a hands-on CEO with fresh ideas, deep apparel experience, a keen understanding of manufacturing and expertise in areas like marketing, merchandising and product development. After a robust selection process that evaluated both internal and external candidates, we selected Vince as the next chief executive of Gildan Activewear,” said Donald C. Berg, Chairman of the Board.
Few people have had the opportunity to demonstrate their leadership skills across such an impressive range of industries and managerial challenges as Vince. And while the experiences vary, the throughline of his career is using his financial acumen, sound management and ability to build teams and motivate people around a shared strategy and vision to improve the companies and organizations he has led.
Vince has had a stellar career. He invested in and grew his own activewear business in his twenties utilizing Gildan as a key supplier. Based on that early success, he then joined Fruit of the Loom where Board of Directors promoted him to president in the company’s darkest hour to develop and implement a restructuring plan that put Fruit of the Loom back on sound financial footing ahead of its eventual sale to Berkshire Hathaway.
Bain Capital noticed Vince’s turnaround work at Fruit of the Loom and hired him to be CEO of Broder Bros., a leading apparel distributor, successfully following in founder’s footsteps. In his six years as CEO of Broder, Vince tripled revenue and made it an industry leader. Bain Capital later introduced Vince to Southfield Capital, where he went on to a successful career in private equity. Vince has served on Board of Directors at 10 companies and stepped in as interim CEO at three to help each move toward successful financial exits.
In 2017, Vince took on perhaps the most challenging turnaround of his career, fixing the scandal-plagued Athletics Program at the NCAA powerhouse University of Louisville. Under his leadership, Vince established a new culture of excellence and compliance while rebuilding the sports program. He led decisively to replace coaches, negotiate the stadium naming rights, set new fundraising records, oversee the highest graduation rate, stabilize the department’s finances and establish a respected Leadership Development Program.
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