The management team of Harley-Davidson Inc. has accused activist shareholder H Partners of “self-serving action” for demanding that the CEO and two board members of the motorcycle manufacturer be fired.
At Harley-Davidson’s annual meeting on May 14, H Partners, which has influenced the careers of mattress manufacturer Tempur-Pedic (SGI) and theme park operator Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (FUN), announced that it will vote against CEO Jochen Zeitz and two other board members.
According to a Harley-Davidson representative, H Partners is acting in this way because the activist investor’s preferred choice for CEO failed to receive a majority vote from the independent board of directors.
“H Partners has chosen to put its own interest ahead of the interests of other shareholders by attempting to disrupt the board’s rigorous and thoughtful CEO transition process, creating uncertainty for and putting Harley-Davidson’s future and shareholder value at risk,” a spokesperson for the company told MarketWatch in an email.
On April 8, Harley-Davidson (HOG) announced that it has begun the process of finding a replacement for Zeitz, who is retiring.
According to a filing by H Partners, Zeitz, board members Thomas Linebarger and Sara Levinson, and others should be booted off the company’s board of directors immediately.
“The current board, which is tightly controlled by a small number of entrenched board members, cannot be trusted to oversee crucial decisions, including CEO succession,” H Partners stated.
Harley-Davidson should appoint an interim CEO until an external candidate can be selected, according to H Partners, which holds 11.3 million shares, or roughly 9%, of the company’s equity.
The present management team of Harley-Davidson stated that they are dedicated to “acting in the interests of all Harley-Davidson’s shareholders by continuing to strengthen the company’s foundation for the future and selecting the right CEO to lead Harley-Davidson into its next chapter.”
H Partners’ prepared statement was the only comment they offered.
The recent hiccup with H Partners is the most recent setback for Harley-Davidson, whose stock price has dropped 28% in 2025—a far greater loss than the S&P 500 SPX’s 8.3% decline.
On Wednesday, the stock increased by 0.5%.
On April 8, Griffin Bryan, a D.A. Davidson analyst, gave Harley-Davidson’s stock a buy rating and set a target price of $31 per share. The troubled Milwaukee-based manufacturer’s plans to hire a new CEO, he added, did not surprise him.
“The company has faced several headwinds over the years including a financially stretched consumer base, rising rate environment, DEI initiative pushback, tariff headwinds, and disappointing new model-year performance,” Bryan stated.
“Dealers and customers we’ve spoken with in the past have questioned [Harley-Davidson’s] leadership as of late, and we feel a refresh of the brand could be an incremental positive to the long term story,” he stated.
