WD-40 Company
Leadership History
3 leaders · 1997 to present
Steve Brass is the CEO of WD-40, in the role since 2022. The first chief executive was Garry Ridge, from 1997.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Brass | President and Chief Executive Officer | 2022 | Present | 4 |
| Sara Hyzer | Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer (president, Americas division from Nov. 2, 2026) | 2022 | Present | 4 |
| Garry Ridge | Former President and Chief Executive Officer | 1997 | 2022 | 25 |
WD-40 Company owns brands, formulas and customer relationships, and pays third-party contract manufacturers to blend and package its products. That keeps capital spending low and lets most of the gross profit flow into marketing, overhead and returns to shareholders. Maintenance products (WD-40 Multi-Use Product, WD-40 Specialist, 3-IN-ONE, GT85) produced $591.0 million, about 95%, of fiscal 2025 net sales. The rest came from homecare and cleaning brands, which the company is moving away from: it sold its UK 1001 and 1001 Carpet Fresh brands in 2025, and in fiscal 2026 it stopped actively marketing its Americas homecare and cleaning brands. Sales are reported in three segments, the Americas, EIMEA (Europe, India, Middle East and Africa) and Asia-Pacific. In some markets the company sells direct to retailers and in others through distributors.
President and Chief Executive Officer
2022 – Present
4 years (current)
Brass has narrowed the portfolio to maintenance products, selling the UK homecare brands and stepping back from the Americas homecare brands, and has pushed the company's Must-Win Battles growth priorities.
Brass leads the company through its current phase of growth and margin recovery. Gross margin passed 55% in fiscal 2025, and sales rose 24% in the third quarter of fiscal 2026.
Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer (president, Americas division from Nov. 2, 2026)
2022 – Present
4 years (current)
As CFO, she executes the absolute strict financial discipline required to maintain WD-40's status as a legendary, high-margin dividend stock.
Former President and Chief Executive Officer
1997 – 2022
25 years
Ridge executed an absolute masterstroke in corporate culture, creating a deeply fanatical 'tribe' mentality among employees while ruthlessly expanding the single product into massive, highly specialized industrial variants.
Serving as the legendary CEO for 25 years (from 1997 to 2022), he grew the company from a niche American product into an absolute global ubiquity found in 80% of American households.
These officers report to the chief executive and are not part of the CEO timeline above.
The main pressures are the cost of petroleum-based ingredients and aerosol cans, swings in foreign exchange (more than half of sales come from outside the Americas in most quarters), dependence on a handful of large retailers, and the fact that one product line generates most of the revenue.
Steve Brass serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of WD-40 Company, having taken the helm on September 1, 2022, after more than 30 years with the organization.
Brass joined WD-40 Company in 1991 in the UK, subsequently serving as European Commercial Director, Global Head of Marketing, and President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) before his appointment as CEO.
Garry Ridge served as CEO from 1997 to 2022 (25 years), transforming WD-40 from an American-centric business into a global brand sold in over 176 countries while multiplying revenues and shareholder value.
Ridge created a management philosophy treating employees as "tribe members," eliminating the fear of failure (calling mistakes "learning moments"), which resulted in employee engagement survey scores consistently topping 90%.
John S. Barry served as President and CEO from 1969 to 1990, renaming the company to WD-40, enforcing single-product discipline, taking the company public in 1973, and establishing the iconic blue-and-yellow packaging.
Norman B. Larsen was the chemist and founding head of Rocket Chemical Company from 1953 to 1958 who formulated WD-40 before parting ways with the firm prior to its major commercial boom.
Sara Hyzer serves as Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer, leading the company's financial strategy, capital allocation, investor relations, and SEC reporting.
WD-40 prioritizes internal leadership development, grooming executives across multi-decade tenures in various regional and commercial roles prior to board elevation.
Executive compensation is heavily weighted toward long-term incentive equity tied to economic value added (EVA), revenue growth, and ROIC hurdles to align management with shareholder returns.
The global headquarters is located in San Diego, California, housing corporate strategy, brand marketing, research and development, and executive administration.
Brass is executing the "Four Must-Win Battles" strategy: accelerating geographic expansion in emerging markets, scaling WD-40 Specialist, driving premium delivery formats, and expanding digital channels.
The board maintains strict governance with independent committee leadership, diverse industrial experience, and proactive oversight of executive succession and capital allocation.
Compare executive leadership tenures and strategic transitions
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