Moog Music Gets New President As Mike Adams Passes The Torch

Moog Music is getting a new President, as current CEO & President Mike Adams, left in the photo, passes the torch.

Adams has announced that current Chief Marketing Officer Joe Richardson, above right, will be taking over as President and will be in charge of day-to-day operations of the company. Adams will continue on in his CEO role.

As President of Moog Music, Adams led the company through decades of change, the death of Moog founder Dr Robert Moog, establishing a new factory, the shift to employee-ownership and more. During that time, the company released some of its most important products, including the Minimoog Voyager, the Sub Phatty & Sub 37, the Mother-32 Eurorack module, the Moog Modular System reissues, Animoog, the Grandmother and the Moog One.

Here’s what Adams had to say about the change:

“This year marks the twentieth anniversary that I have led our company as President and CEO, which has been among the greatest honors of my life. For the past five years, I have focused on building a team around me that has the passion, skill, and care to lead this company into the future. That team is now in place. I have decided it is time to transition from my role as President responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company and welcome a new generation of leadership.

I met Bob Moog twenty years ago and had the fortune to work alongside him for many pivotal years at Moog. Over the years Bob, Ileana, and I became more than just business partners. His and Ileana’s friendship, wisdom, and spirit have continued to guide his company since Bob’s passing in 2005. Since that time, we have grown this business from eight employees to over 160, released over one hundred instruments to the world, expanded our operations into Europe, achieved one of Bob and Ileana’s greatest wishes to become employee-owned, and most importantly, honored his legacy by continuing to design and manufacture innovative musical tools for artists to express themselves.

During my time as President, I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with thousands of Moog owners and listening to their stories. Their words and music have kept me inspired and driven all of us to grow this company, and I thank everyone who has shared their joy of synthesis with me over the years.

We currently have the strongest executive team in our company history. Joe Richardson, who came to Moog as our Chief Marketing Officer in May 2019, has earned the respect of our leadership team and our Moog employee-owners. I’m proud to announce that Joe has been promoted to President of Moog Music. Joe has been a driving force in our company since joining as CMO and was promoted to Executive Vice President in August of 2021. One of my most trusted partners, Joe is my personal pick to lead Moog Music. He has my full confidence as a business leader and a champion of our core values. Joe’s years of experience in the music industry, track record of growth, intelligence, and deep reverence for our company’s legacy position him for great success. I know that Joe will continue to execute on the vision Bob had for this company and am excited to witness this team build their own legacy.

I will work closely alongside Joe and his executive team as I continue as Moog’s Chief Executive Officer. I’m extremely proud of our employee-owners and how far this company has come over the last twenty years. I know that Bob would be thrilled to see how his small company has grown and the values and purpose that we live by at the factory every day.

Words cannot express the gratitude I feel for every customer, vendor, colleague, and synthesist who has accompanied me on my journey as Moog Music’s President. Every one of you has played a part in helping build this company that I love, and for that, I thank you.

Sincerely,

Mike Adams

CEO of Moog Music Inc.”

13 thoughts on “Moog Music Gets New President As Mike Adams Passes The Torch

  1. Good that that’s sorted I suppose but I take pause every time I see “employee owned” shoehorned into their marketing, social media and packaging. To those not familiar with the ways of the business world it could seem at first glance that the employees own the company. If so, I assure you they would be saying 100% employee owned like every other company that is. Much more likely is that the employees only own a portion of the company and quite possibly a very small portion. Mr. Adams tips his hand here when he states that “Joe is my personal pick to lead Moog Music”. Do the employees not own enough to get a say.

    1. In 2015, Mike Adams transferred 49 percent of ownership to the employees. From everything I’ve been able to find, the remaining 51% (that he owned) was to be vested into employee ownership over the next 5 years. It’s been 5 years. I’m not sure if employees own all 100% yet, but I bet it’s close and that is the end goal.

  2. Mike turned that small company into a mega powerhouse again from a biz standpoint. So glad Moog is still making amazing instruments, in 2022!

  3. Had no idea that they had 160 employees. That’s a true US manufacturing success story. Keep that in mind next time the haters complain about Moog’s prices (which IMO are very reasonable).

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