CrossFit: new owner Eric Roza vows to raise presence and investment in China and Southeast Asia

‘It’s a high priority for me,’ says chief executive Roza in first statement about the sport’s future in Asia

Roza says he shares same vision with co-owners Berkshire Partners and will keep sharp focus on what makes CrossFit so special

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Eric Roza, the new owner and CEO of CrossFit, says Asia is a priority for him moving forward. Photo: Eric Roza/CrossFit

Published: 12:43pm, 18 Aug 2020Updated: 12:57pm, 18 Aug 2020

CrossFit will increase its presence and investment in China and Southeast Asia, says new CEO and owner Eric Roza.

Roza, who bought the company with Boston-based investment firm Berkshire Partners in July, announced their plans in his first statement about the sport’s future in Asia.

“It is a high priority for me to massively increase CrossFit’s presence and investment in both China and Southeast Asia,” said Roza in a statement to the South China Morning Post.

“Berkshire and I share a vision for the future of CrossFit, and I look forward to drawing on their deep experience in growing and scaling world-class companies, while maintaining a sharp focus on what makes CrossFit so special in the first place,” said Roza.

Roza and Berkshire take over CrossFit Inc. from disgraced former CEO and founder Greg Glassman, who sold the company after a flurry of controversies.

Glassman’s actions – which included tweets about the death of African-American George Floyd, Covid-19, and leaked emails and Zoom calls with affiliates where he displayed questionable behaviour – quickly turned the entire CrossFit community against him, demanding his resignation.