Ironman Group Taps Equinox President Scott DeRue as CEO
DeRue oversaw 107 fitness clubs at Equinox and once climbed Mount Everest, making him a fitting leader for the endurance sports events brand
The Ironman Group has named Equinox president and mountaineer Scott DeRue as its new CEO.
DeRue succeeds Andrew Messick and will join The Ironman Group’s board of directors. Messick, who announced his retirement last summer, will remain as a member of the board and will serve in an advisory role to DeRue for a smooth transition.
In his new leadership role as CEO of The Ironman Group, DeRue will oversee the brand’s triathlon, trail running, road running and cycling events across 50-plus countries, as well as its digital training platforms and programs.
He will be relocating to The Ironman Group headquarters in Tampa, Florida, with his wife, Kathy.
Passionate about athleticism and endurance, DeRue completed the 250km Gobi March ultramarathon and summited Mount Everest as well as Denali, Elbrus, Vinson and Aconcagua and led teams on a journey up Mt. Kilimanjaro.
During his tenure at luxury fitness operator Equinox, DeRue oversaw 107 fitness clubs, a connected fitness platform, a sizable personal training and coaching practice and digital commerce. Before becoming Equinox president, DeRue served three years as an independent director on Equinox’s board and was once Dean of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
Before his career in higher education, DeRue worked as an analyst for Monitor Group (currently part of Deloitte) and served as a management consultant on corporate strategy across consumer retail, financial services, healthcare, and tech companies.
“We are thrilled to bring someone of Scott’s talent and experience to The Ironman Group,” said Janine Shelffo, group president and chief growth and strategy officer at Advance, which owns The Ironman Group. “Scott is a dynamic leader with a unique track record of driving transformation and growth in different roles and environments. He deeply respects the passion of endurance athletes driven to do hard things and understands how that leads to personal transformation, having experienced it personally as an endurance runner and mountaineer.”
DeRue also holds a BS with Honors in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler Business School, and a PhD in Business Administration from the Eli Broad Graduate School of Management at Michigan State University.
“I am honored to join and lead this purpose-driven organization that for 45 years has consistently tested the boundaries of human achievement and underscored the belief that ‘Anything is Possible,’” DeRue said. “My life has been deeply enriched by being part of the global endurance community and I feel incredibly fortunate to lead The Ironman Group in its mission to inspire people to be the best version of themselves through testing the limits of their physical and mental strength.”
