Levi Strauss & Co. 2024: the 14-month CEO transition from Chip Bergh to Michelle Gass (announced November 2022, took effect January 29, 2024)
Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE: LEVI) executed one of the longest-publicly-telegraphed CEO transitions in the apparel industry. On November 8, 2022, the company announced that Chip Bergh — its CEO since 2011 and the architect of the 2019 return to public markets — would retire, and named Michelle Gass, the former Kohl's CEO, as his eventual successor. Gass joined as President in January 2023 with responsibility for the Levi's brand, the digital business, and global commercial operations. She formally became Chief Executive Officer effective January 29, 2024. Bergh remained as Executive Vice Chair of the Board until his retirement date of April 26, 2024, then transitioned to senior advisor through the end of fiscal 2024. Gass's mandate was articulated by the board around accelerating international growth and transitioning Levi Strauss to a direct-to-consumer-first operating model.
- Story: Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE: LEVI) executed one of the longest-publicly-telegraphed CEO transitions in the apparel industry. On November 8, 2022, the company announced that Chip Bergh — CEO since 2011 — would retire, and named Michelle Gass (former Kohl's CEO) as his eventual successor. Gass joined as President in January 2023 with responsibility for the Levi's brand, the digital business, and global commercial operations. She formally became Chief Executive Officer effective January 29, 2024. Bergh remained as Executive Vice Chair of the Board until his retirement date of April 26, 2024, then transitioned to senior advisor through end of fiscal 2024.
- Why it matters: The 14-month deliberately-slow transition is a structural example of how to do a CEO succession at scale. The board structured Gass's mandate around accelerating international growth and transitioning Levi Strauss to a direct-to-consumer-first operating model. Her Kohl's experience — including omnichannel and DTC strategy — was the relevant precedent.
- Takeaway: Levi Strauss is structurally different from typical NYSE-listed companies — the descendants of Levi Strauss (the Haas family) retained family voting control through Class B shares when the company returned to the public markets in March 2019.
- Takeaway: Bergh's 13-year tenure included the 2019 NYSE IPO and the 2020 COVID retail disruption.
- Takeaway: Gass's Kohl's CEO role had ended in mid-2022; she had nine months between Kohl's and joining Levi's.
Levi's 14-month CEO transition
Levi's CEO transition
Quick facts
The 14-month telegraphed CEO transition
On November 8, 2022, Levi Strauss & Co. announced that Chip Bergh would retire from the CEO role and that Michelle Gass — then the recently-departed CEO of Kohl's — would succeed him. The transition structure was deliberately slow: Gass joined as President in January 2023 with full operating responsibility for the Levi's brand and the digital business, working alongside Bergh as CEO for the next 12 months. Gass became CEO effective January 29, 2024. Bergh continued as Executive Vice Chair of the Board until his retirement on April 26, 2024, and then served as a senior advisor through the end of fiscal 2024.
Chip Bergh's 12-year CEO tenure (2011-2024)
Bergh had become Levi Strauss CEO in 2011, when the company was a privately-held family operation still working through the financial-and-strategic challenges that had built up through the 1990s and 2000s. His tenure included: structural brand repositioning under creative director Jonathan Cheung; substantial international expansion; the 2019 return to the public markets via NYSE IPO on March 21, 2019; the 2021 acquisition of Beyond Yoga to diversify into athletic apparel; and a successful navigation of the 2020 COVID retail disruption. By the time of the November 2022 transition announcement, Bergh had completed ~11 years as CEO.
Michelle Gass's mandate: DTC-first and international
The board's articulation of Gass's mandate at the time of her appointment focused on two strategic priorities: accelerating international growth (Levi Strauss had long been considered underdeveloped internationally versus its US wholesale-heavy mix), and transitioning the operating model to a DTC-first organization. Gass's background at Kohl's — where she had served as CEO and led Kohl's omnichannel and DTC strategy — was the relevant precedent. The DTC-first emphasis is a common strategic pattern in heritage apparel companies that built scale through wholesale channels in the 1980s-2000s and now need to redirect customer acquisition and lifetime value capture toward first-party digital and retail.
The Haas family ownership structure
Levi Strauss is structurally different from typical NYSE-listed companies: the descendants of Levi Strauss — the Haas family — retained family voting control through Class B shares with multiple voting rights when Levi Strauss returned to the public markets in March 2019. This is the same structural protection mechanism that Hermès uses (though Hermès uses an SCA partnership rather than dual-class shares). For Gass and Bergh, the Haas family's continued voting control means strategic decisions are made on a multi-decade time horizon, with management ultimately accountable to family shareholders for whom continuity of the brand and the company's social responsibilities matter more than quarterly earnings beats.
Frequently asked questions
When did Michelle Gass actually become Levi's CEO?
Effective January 29, 2024. She had joined as President in January 2023 — a 12-month transition period during which she worked alongside CEO Chip Bergh before formally taking the CEO role. The succession was first announced publicly on November 8, 2022.
Where did Michelle Gass come from?
She had previously been CEO of Kohl's Corporation. The Kohl's experience — including omnichannel retail and DTC strategy — was specifically cited by the Levi Strauss board as the relevant background for the CEO transition. The Wall Street Journal and Drapers covered her appointment as a clear apparel-industry talent move.
Why did Chip Bergh retire?
Bergh announced his retirement in November 2022, having been CEO since 2011 (~12 years). The board structured a 14-month succession plan: Gass joined as President in January 2023, became CEO January 29, 2024, and Bergh remained as Executive Vice Chair until his actual retirement on April 26, 2024, then as senior advisor through end of fiscal 2024. The structure preserved continuity and allowed Gass to develop relationships with the executive team before assuming full responsibility.
Is Levi Strauss family-owned or publicly traded?
Both. Levi Strauss is listed on the NYSE (ticker LEVI) — it returned to public markets in its March 2019 IPO after decades as a privately-held family company. The descendants of Levi Strauss (the Haas family) retained family voting control through Class B shares with multiple voting rights when the company went public. This dual-class structure means family interests still control major decisions despite public listing.
What does 'DTC-first' mean for Levi Strauss?
Direct-to-consumer-first. The legacy Levi Strauss model relies heavily on wholesale distribution through department stores, specialty retailers, and similar channels. A DTC-first model shifts emphasis to first-party retail stores, levi.com, the Levi's app, and direct customer acquisition. The change matters because DTC margins are higher and customer-data ownership is better, but requires significant investment in retail experience, digital, and marketing. The Gass-era strategic direction is built around this shift.
Sources & references
- Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Executive Leadership Changes (Levi Strauss investor news) — Primary source for the official transition announcement.
- Levi's CEO Chip Bergh to retire, promotes president Michelle Gass (FashionNetwork) — Fashion industry coverage of the announcement.
- Levi Strauss & Co. - Form DEF 14A - FY2024 (SEC) — Levi Strauss's FY2024 proxy statement containing executive compensation and governance details.
- Levi's CEO Chip Bergh to Retire in April 2024 After 12 Years (Sourcing Journal) — Sourcing Journal coverage of the April 2024 retirement and 12-year tenure.
- Levi Strauss Moves Toward CEO Transition in 2024 (SGB Media) — Trade press coverage with Kohl's background detail.