Vail Resorts Shareholder Calls for Firing of CEO

Late Apex Partners (LAP), an investment firm with a stake in Vail Resorts, issued a letter on January 27, 2025 calling for the resignation of the company's CEO, Kirsten Lynch.

The letter, addressed to Vail Resorts’ board of directors, called the company’s performance in the last five years “unacceptable.” LAP claimed Vail Resorts’ capital allocation was “incoherent,” and that the company had “mismanaged” its balance sheet.

LAP also addressed Vail Resorts’ brand image, writing that, today, many skiers and snowboarders view the conglomerate as the “evil empire.”

“Vail’s marketing reductions, and decision to centralize marketing under CEO Lynch has created significant gaps, been inauthentic, and cut out the heart of each mountain,” the letter reads.

While LAP believes Vail Resorts can reach a valuation of $400 per share and wrote that the company has “world-class financial potential,” it urged the board to act now and hold management accountable.
 
For LAP, that accountability includes ousting CEO Lynch and CFO Angela Korch, writing that the two executives were “principally responsible for recent value destruction.”
 
LAP wants a reset of Vail Resorts’ board, too, including the resignation of Executive Chairperson Rob Katz, who served as Vail Resorts’ CEO until 2021 before Lynch’s tenure. LAP expressed admiration for Katz, but they believe his replacement is necessary.

“We have nothing but the utmost respect for Katz’s historical track record in building Vail into a juggernaut,” LAP’s letter reads. “However, Katz’s continued role as Executive Chairman is now a hindrance, not a help, to Vail’s future. Katz has already sold over 80% of his holdings, and we believe now is the time to step down to avoid the risk of destroying his legacy.”

Other solutions LAP proposed included expanded Epic partnerships, reduced dividends, and the hiring of a new CEO who, they wrote, has “a verifiable track record of leadership on innovation.”

LAP, in the letter, didn’t specify the size of its stake in Vail Resorts but noted that the company is its “single largest position.” The letter from LAP follows significant public backlash towards Vail Resorts that arose during the Park City Mountain, Utah, ski patrol strike.