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BILL SCHMIDT NOT A FREE AGENT FOR LONG: OAKLEY'S NEW CEO

          Oakley named BILL SCHMIDT as its CEO effective May 1,
     succeeding LINK NEWCOMB, who will remain on the Board of
     Dirs and assume the newly-created position of COO.  Schmidt
     has been a member of Oakley's Board of Dirs since '97 and
     formerly served as VP/Worldwide Sports Marketing for
     Gatorade (See THE DAILY, 3/26).  Oakley Chair JIM JANNARD:
     "Since 1984, Bill has helped grow Gatorade from a regional
     brand of less than $100 million in annual revenues to a
     position of global leadership with annual revenues of over
     $1.7 billion.  The board and I feel Oakley's opportunities
     are similar to those of Gatorade more than a decade ago." 
     In a separate announcement, Oakley said its net income for
     the first quarter totaled $1.4M, up 7.5% over the $1.3M
     earned in last year's comparable period.  Net sales totaled
     $48.7M, a first-quarter record, up 18.8% over net sales of
     $41.0M over the same period last year (Oakley).  
          SCHMIDT HAPPENS: In L.A., Leslie Earnest calls Oakley's
     hiring of Schmidt a "surprise move."  Schmidt, who was
     introduced to Oakley by MICHAEL JORDAN, said that he "will
     move to build the Oakley brand by focusing on marketing and
     advertising, including using more star athletes to market
     the company's sports-oriented eye wear and other products." 
     Earnest: "Initially, Schmidt said, he intends to better
     define Oakley's consumer and then find ways to advertise and
     market to the subgroups who buy Oakley products, including
     surfers, skiers and snowboarders" (L.A. TIMES, 4/22).  
          MORE MOVES COMING? The WALL STREET JOURNAL calls the
     management change "the latest in a series of transitions for
     Oakley."  Newcomb said that he doesn't expect more
     management shuffling, but said, "Change is going to be
     inevitable to get to the level of sales we are looking for." 
     Oakley's "stock has languished this year, due to several
     quarters in which the company underperformed earnings
     expectations" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/22).

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