Cesar Gueikian is now permanent CEO of Gibson
Gueikian was appointed interim CEO in May, when JC Curleigh stepped down.
Image: Gibson
Gibson Brands’ board of directors has confirmed that Cesar Gueikian will now be both the permanent CEO of the company as well as its president, after taking on the CEO role in an interim capacity in May.
Gueikian said in a press statement: “I am honoured and humbled to take on the permanent CEO role! Gibson is a passion project for me. Our board of directors, chaired by Nat Zilkha, has been incredibly supportive over the last five years, giving me an opportunity to merge my biggest passion, which is not just music and guitars, but Gibson guitars with my business background, and I don’t take this for granted”
“The support from our board, team, artists, and fans has been overwhelming and I look forward to continuing the work we started with our leadership team, who always challenge me to be better. We have an epic history in music, which comes with responsibility, and we are constantly asking ourselves how to be more relevant and leverage our iconic past to be more creative the older we become as a brand.
“Our future depends on our team’s passion and pride in the work they do, and on creative collaboration with our artists around the world across genres of music. When music is at its best, the spirit of the fan merges with the spirit of the artist, and that transcendent experience is special. I can’t wait to get started, keep momentum, and press ahead.”
Gueikian, who was previously Gibson’s CMO and remains its president, stepped up to the CEO plate in an interim capacity when James “JC” Curleigh stepped down in May of 2023. Curliegh joined the company in 2018, when Gibson was in far more tumultuous financial waters than it is now – having filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Curleigh oversaw a “back to basics” approach which steadied the brand, although his tenure wasn’t complete plain sailing: across his time at Gibson, two high-profile legal cases dominated headlines about the brand. A conflict with Heritage guitars, a company founded by former employees of its Kalamazoo factory, was settled out of court in January this year. A conflict with Dean Guitars’ parent company Armadillo has seen major victories for Gibson, although the case is still technically ongoing and now falls into the lap of Gueikian.