Rockstar Energy founder builds Celsius stake, wants to take over as CEO

The billionaire founder of Rockstar Energy has purchased millions of shares of Celsius Holdings and is calling for the ouster of that company’s CEO after its earnings miss this week.

Russ Savage, who founded Rockstar in 2001 and sold it to PepsiCo in 2020 for $3.85 billion, now controls more than 12 million shares of Celsius, he told CNBC. Celsius markets its energy drinks to athletes and other health-conscious consumers and has exploded in popularity in recent years.

Savage’s stake amounts to roughly 4.7% of the company and would be worth about $300 million at current stock levels. While Savage has been quietly advising Celsius to change its cost structure and marketing strategy for over a year, he now says new leadership is needed.

“The CEO, the COO, the brand manager and the marketing manager all need to be fired,” Savage told CNBC.

Celsius didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.

Celsius shares plunged 18% on Thursday after the company’s second-quarter earnings missed analyst expectations, coming in at 36 cents per share versus the 43 cents expected by Wall Street, according to LSEG. Revenue of $817.9 million fell below the $870 million expected, and net income attributable to common shareholders fell by more than half compared to last year’s second quarter.

On the company’s earnings call, Celsius Chairman and CEO John Fieldly cited a product rationalization program and deliberate pause in innovation as main reasons for the shortfall. He said the company was managing the integration of Alani Nu, which it acquired last year for $1.8 billion, and of the Rockstar brand in the U.S. and Canada, which it acquired from Pepsi also last year as part of a long-term strategic partnership.

Pepsi continues to own the Rockstar brand internationally.

Fieldly said on the earnings call that the company may have been overly aggressive in reducing the number of products being sold to make way for newer lines. Still, he said, the company sells 1 out of every 5 energy drinks in the U.S., and the sector remains strong.

“We are a key growth driver for the energy category, and we are just beginning to unlock the full potential of our expanding portfolio,” Fieldly said.

Savage, who was born Russell Weiner and started Rockstar with a $50,000 mortgage against his California condo, said he offered advice to Celsius over a year ago, but was largely ignored. He said Celsius has too many layers of management, with too many costs, and no real accountability.

“They need one person making the decisions, paying attention to every detail, not a group of people in a firing squad,” he said.

Savage said the implication in the earnings call, that Celsius gave up shelf space to make way for its other brands, was a dire signal. In the fast-moving and hypercompetitive energy drink space, it’s difficult for brands to reclaim shelf space once they’ve lost it, he said.

“Once you lose shelf space, you’re dead,” he said. “The chains will give it to Red Bull or Monster.”

Savage said he’s offering to take over as CEO before the problems become too deep to fix. When building Rockstar, he said he managed every detail — from sales and marketing to sponsorships, packaging, distribution and innovation. He said the same type of cost-conscious, driven leader is needed at Celsius.

“I’m publicly volunteering to do it,” he said. “The CEO has lost credibility with the investment community.”

Savage said he’s owned Celsius shares on and off for more than two years. He started acquiring his most recent stake in March, when the stock fell to the low $30 range. He said he bought the stock thinking it was undervalued and poised for a recovery. But he blamed what he called management missteps for the shares’ continued decline.

“I didn’t think they would wreck it this badly,” he said. “Now I’m trying to help fix it.”

Celsius stock now trades at about $27 per share after a sharp gain on Friday following CNBC’s report of Savage’s stake.