10 Things You Didn’t Know about PVH CEO Emanuel Chirico
Emanuel Chirico is both the CEO and the Chairman of PVH Corp. For a lot of people out there, said name will mean nothing whatsoever. However, it should be noted that PVH Corp. owns some of the most famous clothing brands that can be found in the entire world, with examples including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and Speedo. Due to this, Chirico is a very important figure when it comes to clothing. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Emanuel Chirico:
1. Born and Raised in the Bronx
Chirico came from the Bronx, which is one of the five boroughs that make up New York City. With that said, while the Bronx is a borough, it is still home to more than a million people, meaning that it has had a huge influence on New York City as well as the rest of the United States. For proof, look no further than the sheer number of times that it has shown up and continues to show up in American books, movies, TV shows, and other media.
2. Big Sports Fan
It is interesting to note that Chirico is a big sports fan. For example, he is fond of golfing. Furthermore, his favorite quote happens to be football coach Vince Lombardi’s famous line about getting back up after getting knocked down being more important than getting knocked down.
3. Used to Be an Accountant
Once upon a time, Chirico was an accountant. To be exact, he was an accountant with Ernst & Young, which has operations extensive enough that it is counted as one of the Big 4 accounting firms. However, it should be mentioned that even in those times, Chirico specialized in Retail and Apparel, which was important because different industries have different accounting needs.
4. Became a Controller
In time, Chirico made the transition from being an accountant to being the Controller of PVH Corp. For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, a Controller is responsible for overseeing the accounting that is being conducted at a particular business, meaning that it is very common for accountants with plenty of expertise and experience to seek out such positions. In any case, Controllers tend to answer to CFOs, who are responsible for overseeing not just accounting but also other financial matters. However, there are some businesses that will combine the roles because they don’t need that additional layer of separation between them.
5. Became CFO and COO
With that said, when Chirico proceeded to climb the ranks at PVH Corp., he winded up becoming the CFO and the COO. As stated earlier, the CFO is responsible for all financial matters, meaning that their duties and responsibilities can be very wide-ranging indeed. Meanwhile, the COO tends to be seen as being an even higher position than the CFO because its duties and responsibilities include overseeing the business’s operations. Due to this, it is common for people who spend some time as a second in command as a COO before following up on that to become CEOs.
6. Has Been Very Involved in Acquisitions
Chirico has been very involved in PVH Corp.’s expansion efforts carried out via a series of acquisitions. For instance, his leadership as CEO has seen the corporation picking up both Tommy Hilfiger and Warnaco, which happened in 2010 and 2013. However, he was involved in this kind of thing even before he became the CEO in 2006, seeing as how he played an important role in the acquisition of Calvin Klein in 2003.
7. Has Spearheaded Expansion
Besides acquisitions, Chirico has played an important role in fueling PVH Corp.’s expansion through other ways as well. For example, he has overseen an effort to spread its operations beyond the borders of North America, thus enabling it to tap into markets of receptive consumers in other places. Likewise, he has contributed to the development of new products as well as the subsequent sales of new products, thus enabling PVH Corp. to capture more of the market for clothing as a whole.
8. Believes in Corporate Social Responsibility
In spite of his interest in seeing PVH Corp. expand, Chirico has maintained an interest in promoting corporate social responsibility as well. Essentially, corporate social responsibility is the idea that businesses have an obligation to not just their shareholders but also their host communities as well as the wider world around them. Generally speaking, corporate social responsibility can do much to make businesses look better in the eye of consumers, which in turn, makes it easier for said businesses to sell their products and services to interested individuals because of that. Chirico’s interest in corporate social responsibility is further supported by the fact that he is involved in various philanthropic activities as well.
9. Would Have Been Impacted By China Tariffs
Chirico is one of the numerous business executives that have been less than enthusiastic about the Trump administration’s China tariffs. Not all of its operations are connected with the Chinese market, but enough of PVH Corp.’s operations are thus connected that China tariffs would have forced it to raise prices. Said occurrences would have been survivable for the corporation, but it nonetheless would have been very unpleasant.
10. Director of Various Companies
Since Chirico is the Chairman of PVH Corp., it should come as no surprise to learn that he is one of the directors of PVH Corp. However, his experience as a director isn’t limited to the corporation that he is responsible for running on a day to day basis. Instead, it is common for high-ranking executives to serve as a director at various places, which makes sense because their business experience makes them useful for representing shareholder interests while the nature of the position isn’t so strenuous that it requires them to drop everything else.
