Intrawest CEO Bill Jensen in October 2011, shortly after Intrawest moved its corporate headquarters from Vancouver tothe 18th Street Atrium building in Downtown Denver. Photo by Hyoung Chang / The Denver Post
Bill Jensen, the ski industry veteran who , is leaving his post as the company’s chief executive.
Intrawest on Friday announced the promotion of Thomas Marano as the new chief executive, effective immediately.
Jensen, who took the reigns of Intrawest in 2008, a year after the then British Columbia-based company , cited “personal reasons” for his departure. The former Vail Resorts executive – he served 11 years with the company in Vail as the head of Vail Mountain and then the company’s growing mountain division – commuted between Denver and his home in Vail.
His wife Cheryl, who lives in Vail, is a Vail Valley hero. She heads the to host wounded warriors, chairs the volunteer committee for the upcoming 2015 World Alpine Championships and directs her growing Share Warmth Around the Globe program, shipping used ski resort uniforms to communities in need around the world.
Jensen that Intrawest “is well positioned to continue to build on the success and progress the entire team has made over the past five years and most recently since our IPO earlier this year.”
Jensen moved Intrawest from Canada in 2011, taking over a floor on the historic 18th Street Atrium building in Lower Downtown. The move put the resort closer to its two largest U.S. resorts: Steamboat and Winter Park, which it operates for the city of Denver. The company was once the largest resort operator in North America but in 2009 company owner Fortress, the New York hedge fund that bought Intrawest in 2006, .
Intrawest . The company’s shares were trading at $10.65 midday Friday.
Marano was the chief executive at Residential Capital from 2008 to 2013, guiding the residential real estate finance company through bankruptcy since May 2012. In his statement he said looked forward to increasing company value and improving guest experience.
“I believe there are significant near and long-term opportunities to create meaningful value for all shareholders,” Marano said in a statement.
