White is without a snowboard deal for the first time since he was 7ESPN IMAGES
Gold Medal-winning snowboarder Shaun White since the ’18 Pyeongchang Games has undergone a “reboot in the way he thinks, does business and defines success,” and that includes currently not having a primary equipment sponsor, according to Eddie Pells of the AP. White withdrew from the X Games over the weekend, but he came to Aspen “without a snowboard deal for the first time since he was 7.” That allowed him to “plaster a picture of his niece, Charli, on a bottom panel that, for decades, featured the word ‘Burton.’” He is “tinkering with his own snowboard designs,” though he admits to “having no preconceived notions about where that will go.” He also sees himself as “less of a pitchman these days, more of a behind-the-scenes investor.” White said, “I’m a snowboarder. And I hate to say ‘entrepreneur,’ but it’s just investing in brands and keeping the rest of the slate clean right now. Instead of looking at the short term, it’s looking at the next 10 years and seeing things I might want to be part of in the long run” (AP, 2/2).
