Rob Katz Back As Vail Resorts CEO
Rob Katz returns as Vail Resorts CEO after serving previously from 2006 to 2021.
In a significant leadership shift, Vail Resorts announced today that Rob Katz, its former CEO and current Executive Chairperson, will return to the CEO role. Katz replaces Kirsten Lynch, who will remain in an advisory capacity during the transition.
Katz previously served as CEO from 2006 to 2021, a period marked by aggressive expansion, including the introduction of the Epic Pass and numerous resort acquisitions. His return comes as the company faces mounting challenges, including labor disputes, investor dissatisfaction, and declining stock performance.
Investors were not happy with the 13-day Park City ski patrol strike this December and January.
Our Take
The leadership shake-up follows a tumultuous period for Vail Resorts. The company has faced some decidedly terrible press this year, brought about chiefly by a ski patrol strike at Park City this December and two catastrophic lift failures likely brought about by deferred maintenance, one at Heavenly in December and one at Attitash in February.
From an investor standpoint, Vail Resorts' financial performance has been underwhelming in recent years. The company's stock has plummeted nearly 50% since its peak in October 2021, reaching a nine-year low in April, and the 2024-25 season marked the first-ever decline in Epic Pass sales. Earlier this year, high-profile shareholder Late Apex Partners issued a scathing letter calling for the removal of CEO Kirsten Lynch, CFO Angela Korch, and even Executive Chairman Rob Katz himself. This letter gained widespread circulation, and when a shareholder's demand to "change your CEO" gains such traction, it’s hard to ignore.
Since Rob Katz stepped down as CEO in November 2021, Vail Resorts’ stock price has looked like… this.
Why Rob Katz?
So why would Vail reinstate Rob Katz as CEO? Well, Katz’s previous tenure as CEO was characterized by rapid expansion, with the company growing from owning five ski areas to a staggering 37. Katz was also the head of Vail Resorts when it first launched the Epic Pass, and the company’s stock and revenue numbers grew exponentially under his watch.
However, Katz's aggressive strategies are also responsible for many of the decisions that have made Vail Resorts so controversial today. The introduction of the Epic Pass, while democratizing ski resort access in many ways, has also resulted in overcrowded slopes and paved the way for extraordinarily overpriced lift tickets. Many of the moves made under Katz have also strained relationships with local communities and employees, including trying to trademark the use of the phrase “Park City” and undercutting wages versus competing resorts.
Final Thoughts
Bringing back Katz may provide short-term stability and appease investors seeking high-profile decision-making based on revenue growth. But while he didn’t see any ski patrol strikes under his watch, so many of the company’s challenges originated during his previous tenure that it’s hard to know whether he’ll be able to turn the U.S.’s largest ski resort operator around. We’ll just have to stay tuned to find out for ourselves.
