Hargrave CEO Michael Joyce announced in early January that his family trust, which owns Hargrave Custom Yachts, plans to spin off Hargrave into a standalone corporation in the first half of 2019. The Joyce family trust will retain 50 percent ownership of the new corporation, with Hargrave President Michael DiCondina seeking a new financial partner for the brand.
Joyce, who is 75, said that while Hargrave ranks among the world’s top 20 yacht brands based on brokerage sales, most of Hargrave’s competitors are now owned by billionaires or global corporations, requiring Hargrave to change if it wants to expand and grow.
“I think yacht building is quickly replacing horse racing as the new Sport of Kings,” he stated in a press release. “When I looked at the competition, I realized that my personal passion for being a small family business was actually holding everyone in this company back.”
How is business at Hargrave? Going into the 2018 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, Hargrave reported an order book with more than 1,000 feet of new yachts under construction and valued in excess of $100 million.
