I’ve been watching Harley-Davidson stories closely ever since the brand’s CEO, Jochen Zeitz, announced his retirement earlier this week. When something like that occurs, there’s always fallout to come. So when I saw the story of a Harley board member resigning, I figured this was just part of that. But when I read his resignation letter, it felt…off.
I’ve been writing about the automotive and powersport industries for decades now. In that time, I’ve read resignation letters from multiple executives. Most, even in dour circumstances not of their choosing, remain professional. They offer criticism, sure, but they’re still looking after the company’s best interests. Plus, it’s never a good look to badmouth folks.
But the letter from Jared Dourdeville of H Partners Management, one of the Motor Co’s biggest partners, felt more in line with disgraced and disgruntled former Nissan CEO, and current fugitive from the Japanese government, Carlos Ghosn. I went to RideApart’s slack and told the site’s editors, “This feels like he got passed over for CEO, and less about the issues he says caused his departure.”
As such, we didn’t immediately report on the former executive’s letter of resignation or the contents within. But now, with some more context being reported and my theorizing being validated by a letter Harley-Davidson filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, we can talk about how this whole saga is more of a tantrum than anything substantial.
Yeah, according to Harley-Davidson, Dourdeville is mad he didn’t get to pick the brand’s new CEO.
Now, before I go into Dourdeville’s issues with Harley-Davidson’s board, and his subsequent departure, I will express that in his letter of resignation, he raises many of the same concerns I’ve raised over the last year. Harley needs a small-displamcent, more inexpensive, entry-level motorcycle. The brand’s response to the idiotic “Harley’s gone woke” campaign was lackluster at best, tone-deaf at worst, and they should’ve been more forceful in denying such lunacy.
Likewise, the emphasis the company’s put on cruisers, as well as the consistent funneling of cash to LiveWire as a separate brand, have not had the intended effects that Harley’s board would’ve liked to have seen. Diversification is needed, but EVs may not hold the answer for Harley. He and I agree on these points, and I’ve said such things in the past in these very pages.
That said, he also gets into the weeds of corporate politics and decries work-from-home policies. A typical bullshit claim only leveled when middle-managers can’t put their thumb on working people and need “butts in seats” so they can make their lives and work worse. Harley’s WFH policies aren’t what’s causing the brand’s issues. Just say you don’t like people being happy and good at their jobs, Jared.
But here’s the rub about all of this, according to Harley’s own statements: ” In over three years on the Board, Mr. Dourdeville never voted against the Director majority on any matter.”
In a statement filed with the SEC, Harley-Davidson said, “Up until December 2024, Mr. Dourdeville and representatives from H Partners were requesting Presiding Director, Tom Linebarger, and Chairman and Chief Execuve Officer, Jochen Zeitz, to extend their commitment to continue leading the Company transformation for several additional years,” and “At a Board meeting in February 2025, Mr. Dourdeville voted in favor of all current Company Directors standing for reelection, without discussion or objection. At that time, while the Board was in the process of searching for a successor to the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Dourdeville and H Partners continued to support a long-term commitment from Presiding Director Linebarger to continue leading the Company’s transformation.”
So he resoundingly agreed with the board throughout his tenure, why then send a letter decrying the company’s board? Well, while Dourdeville agreed with the board all the time “Except one – the Board’s decision not to extend an offer to his preferred CEO candidate.”
“In late March 2025, the Board evaluated three candidates for the CEO role and decided not to offer any of the candidates the role,” Harley’s SEC statement reads. The company then drops a sequence of events surrounding Dourdeville’s actions after his preferred candidate was passed over.
“On Wednesday, March 26, 2025, the Board met with three CEO successor candidates. On Friday, March 28, 2025, a Board meeting was held with each Director understanding their fiduciary duty to act independently and in the best interest of all shareholders. After each Board member had the opportunity to weigh in on the three CEO candidates, the Board decided not to extend an offer to any of the candidates.
On Tuesday evening, April 1, 2025, Mr. Dourdeville sent a letter to the Board demanding the immediate resignation of three Directors. On Thursday, April 3, 2025, the Company filed its proxy statement recommending the reelection of all current Directors. That same day the Board e-mailed Mr. Dourdeville advising him that it was in the process of fully evaluating the points raised in his letter and proposing times for the entire Board to meet to formally discuss them. Mr. Dourdeville did not respond to this e-mail or object to the proposed plan. On Friday, April 4, 2025, Mr. Dourdeville agreed to attend a meeting of the Board to be held on Monday, April 7, 2025, at 7:00 a.m. central, to discuss his April 1, 2025 letter and
demands. The following day, Saturday, April 5, 2025, Mr. Dourdeville resigned from the Board before the agreed Board meeting was able to take place.”
Basically, this SEC filing is Harley’s way of showing that Dourdeville’s actions were petty at best. He didn’t get his way, he didn’t get to pick Harley-Davidson’s next CEO, and now he’s mad at the company, so he’s airing grievances that he never brought up to the board’s face during his three years as one of its directors. And Harley’s SEC filing went further, denouncing nearly every one of Dourdeville’s claims. Whoever put this SEC filing together clearly had some fun after what had to be a shit-storm at corporate when the media started to pick up on Dourdeville’s abrupt resignation.
I won’t say that Harley-Davidson doesn’t have problems; it does. But a disgruntled board member resigning isn’t exactly the canary in the coal mine that many others in my profession made it out to be.
