SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitbit, Inc. (NYSE: FIT), the leading global wearables brand, today announced that chief financial officer William R. Zerella will depart the company, effective June 15. The company has promoted Ronald W. Kisling, currently serving as chief accounting officer, to the role of CFO, leveraging his nearly four years with Fitbit to ensure continuity of operations.
Zerella served as Fitbit’s CFO since June 2014. During his tenure, he guided the company to one of the largest consumer electronics IPOs in history and scaled the company globally. Today, Fitbit has sold over 78 million devices and has a growing, active community of users of over 25 million, is in 86 countries and has a retail footprint across 47,000 stores. Zerella is leaving Fitbit to become CFO of an autonomous vehicle technology startup, leveraging his experience in growing businesses.
“Over the past four years, Bill’s passion and dedication to growing early stage companies were key enablers of Fitbit’s transformation from a startup to the leading global brand it is today. We thank him for his countless contributions, including leading our successful IPO in 2015, guiding our worldwide expansion, and laying the foundation for our future success, and wish him all the best in his next endeavor,” said James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit.
As CFO, Kisling will lead Fitbit’s global finance organization, reporting to CEO James Park. He brings nearly 35 years of financial leadership experience to the role, having served as the CFO of multiple public and private technology companies. Prior to Fitbit, Kisling was CFO of Nanometrics, a publicly traded semiconductor equipment company. He also held senior executive roles at PGP Corporation, Saba Software, and SPL Worldgroup. He joined Fitbit nearly four years ago as CAO, overseeing accounting, real estate & workplace and IT functions.
“Ron has long been an important member of our senior leadership team and we will continue to benefit from his significant expertise in leading sophisticated finance organizations as we position Fitbit for its next stage of growth,” said Park. “We remain confident in the long-term future of Fitbit and look forward to partnering with Ron as we execute on our plan.”
The company continues to execute on its transformation strategy and is making strides adapting to the changing wearable device market. Fitbit has experienced strong consumer demand for its new smartwatch, Fitbit Versa™, and the company announced earlier this week that sell through in the first six weeks of availability in North America was the best of any Fitbit device in the history of the company. Fitbit has increased confidence in its outlook that smartwatch revenue will be more than 50% of sales in the second half of 2018; therefore, we are reaffirming revenue and earnings guidance for Q2 and fiscal year 2018.
About Fitbit, Inc. (NYSE: FIT)
Fitbit helps people lead healthier, more active lives by empowering them with data, inspiration and guidance to reach their goals. As the leading global wearables brand, Fitbit designs products and experiences that track and provide motivation for everyday health and fitness. Fitbit’s diverse line of innovative and popular products include Fitbit Blaze®, Fitbit Charge 2®, Fitbit Alta HR™, Fitbit Alta®, Fitbit Ace™, Fitbit Flex 2®, and Fitbit Zip® activity trackers, as well as the Fitbit Ionic™ and Fitbit Versa™ smartwatches, Fitbit Flyer™ wireless headphones and Fitbit Aria 2™ Wi-Fi Smart Scale. Fitbit products are carried in over 47,000 retail stores and in 86 countries around the globe. Powered by one of the world’s largest social fitness networks and databases of health and fitness data, the Fitbit platform delivers personalized experiences, insights and guidance through leading software and interactive tools, including the Fitbit and Fitbit Coach apps, and the Fitbit OS for smartwatches. Fitbit Health Solutions develops health and wellness solutions designed to help increase engagement, improve health outcomes, and drive a positive return for employers, health plans and health systems. Fitbit and the Fitbit logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fitbit, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Additional Fitbit trademarks can be found at www.fitbit.com/legal/trademark-list. Third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that involve risks and uncertainties including, among other things, statements regarding continued demand for Fitbit Versa; our financial outlook for the second quarter of 2018 and full year 2018; and trends in smartwatch revenue. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual results due to a variety of factors, including the effects of the highly competitive market in which we operate, including competition from much larger technology companies; any inability to successfully develop and introduce new products, features, and services or enhance existing products and services; product liability issues, security breaches or other defects; and other factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in our most recent report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements contained herein are based on information available to us as of the date hereof and we do not assume any obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events.
