Apple Retail Veteran Angela Ahrendts Joins Kardashian’s Private Equity Firm SKKY

Private equity firm SKKY Partners has added former Apple Retail executive Angela Ahrendts as senior operating adviser.

Ahrendts will work with SKKY Partners founders Kim Kardashian and Jay Sammons and the team to identify and evaluate prospective investment opportunities, serve as a resource for the companies in which SKKY invests, and support the firm’s investment in “the next generation of consumer brands,” the company said in a Monday (Aug. 7) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

“Angela’s wealth of leadership experience experience and deep understanding of building brands and influencing culture makes her a natural fit for the firm,” Kardashian said in the release.

Sammons added in the release: “Angela’s keen understanding of the convergence of consumer brands, media and technology is well-aligned with SKKY’s strategy and makes her a natural fit for our firm.”

While serving as senior vice president at Apple Retail, Ahrendts reimagined Apple’s retail experience, stores and the roles of 70,000 employees globally, according to the press release. Before joining Apple, she served as the CEO of Burberry Group, executive vice president of Liz Claiborne and president of Donna Karan International.

Ahrendts currently serves on the boards of Ralph Lauren, Airbnb and WPP, the release said.

“Kim and Jay have created something truly extraordinary with SKKY Partners,” Ahrendts said in the release. “Their focus on backing the next generation of industry disrupting brands, with a mission to leave each company they invest in better than it was before, is truly inspiring.”

SKKY Partners was formed in September 2022 by Kardashian, the reality star turned entrepreneur, and Sammons, a former partner at Carlyle Group, to invest in consumer products, hospitality, luxury, digital commerce and media, and consumer media and entertainment businesses.

The private equity firm aims to make both control and minority investments in companies.

“The exciting part is to sit down with these founders and figure out what their dream is,” Kardashian told the Wall Street Journal at the time of the company’s founding. “I want to support what that is, not change who they are in their DNA, but just support and get them to a different level.”

Ahrendts was regarded as a “digital retail rock star” during her tenure at Burberry. Under her leadership, the brand tripled its sales and quadrupled its stock price.