Johan Eliasch, the Swedish billionaire and long-time major shareholder and CEO of Head, has been elected as the new president of the International Ski Federation (FIS). He succeeds Gian-Franco Kasper, who has stepped down after 23 years in charge of the governing body. Eliasch, who secured more than half of the valid votes (54.6%), had previously pledged to stand down as Head’s chief executive if elected FIS president. He reportedly received several high-profile endorsements for his campaign from sports stars like Lindsey Vonn and Hermann Maier, among others. During his campaign, Eliasch vowed to bring new race formats and to create an advisory forum of experts made of officials from sports marketing, media and entertainment, to help guide the organization. He also proposed governance reforms such as the introduction of term limits. Before today, the Federation had only four presidents in 97 years of history. Eliasch’s predecessor, Gian-Franco Kasper, has been named as the FIS’ honorary president.

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