Nike announced Ann Hebert’s departure from the sneaker company after more than 25 years on Monday, after it was reported that her son had been using a credit card in her name to manage a sneaker resale business.
An email obtained from Nike read “Ann Hebert, VP/GM, North America geography has decided to step down from Nike, effectively immediately. We thank Ann for her more than 25 years with Nike and wish her well.”
The announcement came in the wake of a Bloomberg Businessweek article published about her son, Joe Hebert’s hundred-thousand-dollar resale business, West Coast Streetwear. The article mentions Joe using a credit card in his mother’s name to acquire the exclusive shoes and resale them at his online stores. Joe denied receiving any inside information from his mother in regards to the shoes. Sneakers have been completely removed from one of his WCS websites and another website has been temporarily shut down.
Ann Hebert had worked as Nike’s North America Vice President and General Manager since April of 2020 overseeing sales, marketing, and merchandising. Hebert also was in charge of Nike’s SNKRS app, where shoes sell out almost instantly, to be later found on secondary sites and stores like her son’s, for almost triple the retail value.
Sandra Carreon-John, a spokesperson for Nike, said Hebert, revealed “relevant information” to the company about her son’s business in 2018. At the time it was determined that there was “no violation of company policy.”
“There is no commercial affiliation between WCS LLC and Nike, including the direct buying or selling of Nike products,” Carreon-John stated.