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Robert Greenberg
CEO of Skechers U.S.A.
Robert Greenberg is a Chairman CEO and Founder of Skechers USA, Inc. (SKX)
The "trendy" know to be seen in Skechers shoes; L.A. Gear is passé. What the trendy do not always know is that Robert Greenberg is the founder of both. The creative, mercurial entrepreneur, who likes to refer to himself as "Captain Marvel," is busy building his second blockbuster company within two decades, both of them dealing with the nation's hottest name in footwear. The company's 2001 revenues were flirting with $1 billion—a 42–percent increase from 2000, and Greenberg hopes to double that by 2005.
Robert Greenberg built two shoe companies from the ground up, each of which became a major player in the competitive footwear industry. His first creation was L.A. Gear, which capitalized on the aerobics craze of the 1980s. When L.A. Gear started going under, Robert and his son Michael were forced out. The Greenbergs quickly rebounded and started Skechers—a word which, appropriately, was street slang for someone who could not sit still. The company marketed a wide range of affordable, trendy footwear to 12- to 24-year-olds.
Early Life
Robert Greenberg Born: 1940, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Greenberg was described in a 2001 Forbes article as "a gregarious, diminutive man with a deep California tan, a thick Beantown accent and an overdeveloped sense of showmanship." All five of his sons work in the business, and his second eldest, Michael, has been groomed to take over. Greenberg still owned 44 percent of the company stock in 2001; Michael had a 5 percent interest.
Greenberg was born into a tough, hard–working Boston family in 1940. As a boy (and the only son), he worked in his father's fresh produce stand. To toughen him up, his father insisted that young Greenberg not wear gloves at work in winter. When he graduated from high school, Greenberg opted for a softer career: hair styling school.