Meet Jochen Zeitz, Harley-Davidson’s ‘sustainable Taliban’ CEO: the Netflix producer and former Kering board member was slammed by conservatives for his DEI policies, but he’s sparked controversy before

Aug 22 , 2024

Jochen Zeitz poses for a headshot. Photo: @jochenzeitz/LinkedIn

Conservative mouthpiece Robby Starbuck and Tesla’s Elon Musk just criticised the motorcycle brand for its diversity goals regarding women, minorities and the LGBT community

Zeitz – who formerly worked with Gucci’s parent company Kering and Colgate-Palmolive – spoke about being seen as a ‘sustainable Taliban’ in 2020, and his comments resurfaced during the recent furore

Another day, another decrying of supposed “wokeism”. This time, it’s Harley-Davidson CEO Jochen Zeitz who’s facing the anti-woke crowd’s ire.

Conservative mouthpiece Robby Starbuck recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to slam the CEO for his company’s diversity policy, saying he seemed to have “forgotten who their core customers are”. X owner Elon Musk seemed to echo Starbuck’s sentiments, saying that Zeitz’ approach “doesn’t sound super compatible with their customers”.

Harley-Davidson finally capitulated to the pressure, responding last week by issuing a statement saying it has not had DEI policies since April, and that it would no longer participate in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index scoring system, which gives companies scores based on LGBTQ+ inclusion. The company added that it would also no longer have goals to buy from women- or minority-owned suppliers, per The Wall Street Journal.

The Harley-Davidson logo hangs over the entrance to the motorcycle company’s dealership in Littleton, Colorado, in the US. Photo: AP Photo

During his social media campaign against the brand, Starbuck also resurfaced controversial comments that German-born Zeitz made in 2020. Zeitz sparked outrage by commenting that some of his associates appeared to compare him to the militant Taliban terrorist group for his sustainability policies. He made the statements during a speech at the Zermatt Summit in Switzerland.

“Imagine standing in front of CEOs of luxury brands that now think you are the ‘sustainable Taliban’, as somebody once called me,” he said, referring to his time as a board member of Kering, the parent company of Gucci, Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta. “ … So I became the Taliban again in a sustainable way.”

So, just who is Jochen Zeitz, the controversial chairman, president and CEO at Harley-Davidson, Inc – and what do we know about him?

Jochen Zeitz worked his way up the corporate ladder

Harley-Davidson CEO Jochen Zeitz sits in the back of a four-wheel drive vehicle. Photo: @thelongrun/X

Zeitz was born in 1963 in Mannheim, Germany and studied economics, international marketing and finance at EBS Universität, according to his LinkedIn. He started his career at Colgate-Palmolive, where he split his time between New York and Hamburg, before moving to Puma, where he served as chairman. Then came Kering, where he was a board member, and finally, his current role at Harley-Davidson.