News surfaced out of Australia this week that Matthew Perrin filed for bankruptcy. Perrin, a former Billabong CEO, is a lead investor in surfboard maker Firewire. Firewire CEO Mark Price said his company is not impacted by Perrin’s personal financial issues. Firewire is self-funded at this stage and uses Wells Fargo as a factor, Price said.

Press release: 

Firewire not Impacted by Investors Personal Bankruptcy.

Firewire was saddened to learn that Matthew Perrin, one of the companies lead
investors over the past 3 years, had filed for bankruptcy protection in Australia due to
real estate and other business dealings unrelated to Firewire.

“Matthew’s commitment was one of the foundations on which Firewire was built”, said
Firewire CEO Mark Price, “and he along with our other lead investors, combined with
our innovative product and Taj’s success, have allowed Firewire to develop into a
globally recognized surfboard brand in a relatively short space of time”.

Heading into its 3rd full year of operations, Firewire continues to gain market share and
die hard converts to the companies innovative technology, the most recent of which,
Rapid-fire, combines bamboo deck skins with internal carbon rods to control flex
properties.

“Our business is by no means immune to global market conditions”, continued Price,
“but with a highly differentiated product and exceptionally clean distribution, we believe
that Firewire is well positioned for today’s market conditions and for the future”.