Jesper Nielsen confirmed via Facebook that he had sold his shares in Endless Jewelry and exited the company.
Nielsen founded Endless in 2013 and held the position of CEO until June 2015 when the title was handed to Paul Moonga. At the time, Nielsen stated the move would strengthen the company’s internal structure and day-to-day operation while allowing him to focus on developing the brand at a global level in his continued role as ‘founder’.
In his recent statement on Facebook, Nielsen emphasised he was not leaving Endless “out of anger or frustration, but merely a matter of realising that I am at my best, when at the end of the table, making the calls”. He added that he had been gradually moving away from the business’ daily management for the past six to nine months.
Commenting on the situation, Moonga said, “Over the last couple of weeks, I, together with the board of directors and our major investors, have had some very constructive and positive discussions with Jesper Nielsen in regards to Endless Jewelry’s future. As a consequence of these discussions, Jesper has decided that he would like to dedicate his focus on other business activities and we have agreed with him that it is time to end our collaboration.
“On behalf of the board of directors and the major investors of Endless Jewelry, I respect Jesper Nielsen’s decision and would like to thank Jesper for his time and efforts in founding Endless Jewelry as well as wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours.”
Executive unrest
Further to Moonga’s comments, Denmark’s national broadcasting corporation, Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR), indicated that the Endless executive board had disagreed with Nielsen’s sales methods.
A translation of a DR report suggested Nielsen had encouraged stockists to hold stock for long periods of time in order to generate impressive sales statistics but had then allowed the stores to return unsold goods, making it difficult for the board to ascertain the company’s true financial position.
Nielsen said that as he had not been part of the daily operation of Endless for more than six months, his departure was unlikely to have a large impact on the business.
“Endless will continue in the direction set, and I am confident that the ownership will make the right decisions to take [the brand] to the next level,” he stated.
Nielsen added that he had started to work on “new projects and creations”, which he said he would announce in the next couple of weeks.
Update: 9 February 2016 – Local impact
On Monday 8 February, local Endless supplier Nordic Jewellery issued a statement via email to the brand’s Australian and New Zealand retail stockists.
“From our point of view we would like to stress that it makes no changes to our operation as distributor and since Jesper really has not been active within the company for the past six months we are confident that it will also not affect the business of Endless Jewelry,” the email read.
“The investors behind Endless … are actually increasing their commitment by this deal and so we are confident that the company will continue to grow and expand.”
The statement also confirmed that Jennifer Lopez’s role as brand ambassador would remain unchanged and that the company was seeking to further increase her involvement in raising brand awareness.
“Nordic Jewellery will continue our work to help and support our retailers as much as possible and to push hard for more sales. We are very much looking forward to the next chapter of Endless Jewelry,” the statement concluded.
Endless was launched in Australia in February 2015. Its global network spans more than 30 international markets, with more than 3,500 retail stockists established across Europe, the US, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
More information
Jesper Nielsen’s Facebook statement
Danish Broadcasting Corporation's report
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