Nike executive steps down after family ties with a sneaker reseller is revealed
A high-ranking Nike official has resigned after a story came out that her son had been buying tons of limited edition shoes using her credit card, that he then flipped over for a princely profit for his booming sneaker business.
The US multinational confirmed that vice president and general manager for North America Ann Hebert resigned from her post effective immediately. This came after a Bloomberg Businessweek report about her son’s sneaker reselling business West Coast Streetwear, which was able to cop sought-after shoes at big discounts, such as Yeezy and Jordan, that he was then turning over at a mark-up.
The company announced the departure of Hebert, who had been with Nike for over 25 years, in a brief statement. The retailer also said it plans to announce a new head of its North American business shortly.
JUST IN: Nike has announced that Ann Hebert, Vice President and General Manager, North America has departed from the company. pic.twitter.com/uI9dPW2kFo
— Complex Sneakers (@ComplexSneakers) March 1, 2021
The Bloomberg report featured Hebert’s 19-year-old son, Joe, known in the sneaker community as West Coast Joe, a college dropout who resells sneakers for a higher price and earns hundreds of thousands of dollars from it each month.
The report said Joe used a credit card in Hebert’s name to purchase $132,000 (P6.4 million) worth of limited edition sneakers for his business called West Coast Streetwear.
Joe told Boomberg that his mother never gave him any insider information, like discount codes, while she was at Nike. He said his mother was “so high up at Nike as to be removed from what he does.”
The report fuelled the backlash from the sneaker community, which says there is an obvious conflict of interest for Joe to be reselling Nike sneakers when his mother has plenty of inside access.
A spokesperson from Nike revealed to Bloomberg that Hebert disclosed all relevant information regarding her son’s business in 2018. The company also said that Hebert did not violate “company policy, privileged information or conflicts of interest.”