FOUNDED: Australian surfwear brand launched in 1969. Bob McKnight and pro surfer Jeff Hakman secured the North American license in 1976, building Quiksilver U.S.A. in Orange County. The company operated from Costa Mesa for roughly a dozen years before relocating its headquarters and 300 employees to Huntington Beach in 1999.
LEGACY LEADERSHIP: McKnight and Hakman signed a licensing agreement with Australian-born Quiksilver to start making boardshorts for surfers in 1976. McKnight was eventually named chief executive in 1991 and served as chairman until retiring in 2013. He bought parent Quiksilver International Pty. for $41M in 2001, giving the company full ownership of its global trademark. McKnight took the firm public, acquired several surf and skate brands, signed high-profile surfers and professional athletes and ultimately became the driving force behind Quiksilver.
OC SIGNIFICANCE: Quiksilver was one of the action sports apparel brands that helped define Orange County and Southern California as the center of surf and skate culture from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Introduced Roxy brand for young women and girls in 1991 and acquired shoemaker DC in 2004.
DEFINING MOMENT: In 1986, Quiksilver was the first surfwear company to go public and went on to acquire worldwide licenses and trademarks to become a global retail powerhouse in the action sports industry.
BY THE NUMBERS: The company at one point had 1,650 employees in Orange County and 9,000 worldwide; by 2015, 65% of its revenue was generated outside of the U.S. Quiksilver reached its highest annual sales of $1.8B in its fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2013. Ended up filing for bankruptcy in 2015 and was acquired by Oaktree Capital Management, which restructured Quiksilver under the Boardriders portfolio with Billabong and Roxy until the brands were all bought by Authentic Brands Group.
QUOTABLE: “I love Quiksilver, it’s in my DNA.”—Bob McKnight
FUN FACT: Bob McKnight was inducted into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame in Huntington Beach in 2005.