James Harden, the bearded NBA All-Star of the Brooklyn Nets who unfortunately due to an injury sat on the bench during the playoff series with the Milwaukee Bucks, has found another seat to fill: he joined the board of directors of Saks.
In addition to playing professional basketball and being fashionable, Harden, an investor and entrepreneur, has made a minority investment in Saks, which is the e-commerce company Saks Fifth Avenue.
Harden’s portfolio includes minority ownership of Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo and National Women’s Soccer League’s Houston Dash, as well as holdings in various brands, including Therabody, BodyArmor, Art of Sport, Stance and Pura, where he serves as creative director. Harden is also the founder of Thirteen, a Houston-based fine dining restaurant.
James Harden in the front row of a 2018 Calvin Klein show. Stephane Feugere / WWD
Formed this past March, Saks has been building its board of directors. Deven Parekh and Adam Berger of Insight Partners, an equity investor and minority shareholder in Saks, and Franz-Ferdinand Buerstedde of Rhône Capital, have been appointed to the board.
Other board members include Richard Baker, CEO and CEO of Hudson’s Bay Co., which operates Saks, as well as Saks Fifth Avenue stores, discount retailers Saks Off-Fifth and the Hudson’s Bay department store chain. in Canada; Marc Metrick, CEO of Saks, and Sebastian Gunningham, strategic advisor to the company.
“As we work to build this new board, James is an important and valuable addition,” said Baker. “With experience in growing businesses and as someone who values self-expression through fashion, I am confident that she will bring a different point of view that will help us deliver better results to our clients. His experience, combined with that of our other board members, will allow Saks to further capitalize on the significant growth opportunity within luxury e-commerce. ”
Harden added: “This is an exciting opportunity for me to combine two of my personal passions: a love of fashion and teaming up with brands that have the potential to lead while having an impact on the communities they serve. I look forward to working with the Saks team and having a direct impact on the future success of the company, the fashion community and its customers. ” The playoff series between the Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks is tied, two games each.
“We have a great opportunity as an independent company,” Metrick said. “With our rapid growth strategy coupled with the unique perspectives of our board members, I look forward to working together to help propel Saks into the future.”
Parekh is Managing Director of Insight Partners, where he manages investments in consumer Internet business, data and application software.
Berger, another Managing Director of Insight Partners, previously served as President and CEO of Digital Room Incorporated. He also currently serves as President of Achieve3000, Illuminate, PDI Software, and Campaign Monitor, and as CEO of Optimizely.
Buerstedde is a managing director of Rhône Capital, an investor in HBC and a member of the HBC board of directors.
