Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> May 23, 2005
RICHARD J. HECKMANN is Chairman and CEO of K2 Inc. Previously, he
founded USFilter on July 16, 1990, and embarked on a series of
acquisitions aimed at building the world's largest water treatment
company. Mr. Heckmann was named 1993 Entrepreneur of the Year in the
turnaround category for the Inland Empire region of Southern California
and again in 1997 for the Master Entrepreneurial category. In 1999,
USFilter was acquired by Vivendi SA for $8.2 billion in cash and debt
assumption. Mr. Heckmann was Director and owner of Smith Goggles. He is
also a founding shareholder of Callaway Golf, Inc. Mr. Heckmann is also
an owner of the NBA Phoenix Suns basketball team. Mr. Heckmann was also
Chairman of the Listed Company Advisory Committee of the New York Stock
Exchange and a member of the Exchange's Special Governance Committee. He
was Associate Administrator for Finance and Investment of the Small
Business Administration from 1978 to 1979, where he was responsible for
small business lending and venture capital investments made by the
United States government. He also served as the White House liaison
from the SBA and is a former director of the Advisory Board of the
Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Presently, the International Center
for Entrepreneurial Management (The Heckmann Center) is under
construction in Palm Desert, California. Mr. Heckmann, along with the
State of California, donated the funds to build the school. The new
graduate school is to become part of the University of California,
Riverside, system. Profile
picture of things as they are now.
Mr. Heckmann: Historically, K2 started out in the ski business with K2
skis, and
