Mossimo Exec Leaving to Rejoin Previous Firm

Mossimo Inc. said Wednesday that its chief financial officer, Anthony C. Cherbak, is leaving the struggling apparel and accessories company for personal reasons and will rejoin his previous employer.

Cherbak, who joined Irvine-based Mossimo just eight months ago, said Wednesday that “family reasons” drove his decision to return to Deloitte & Touche, the accounting firm where he worked for 18 years.

“As I’ve told the industry analysts today, there’s no hidden meaning,” Cherbak said. “I’m on good terms with everyone here.”

Cherbak, one of the first outside executives recruited by Mossimo after its 1996 initial public stock offering, will be replaced by John D. Bower, who joined the company in January as corporate controller. Bower, 36, has spent 15 years in corporate finance and accounting roles, most recently with FHP International Corp.

Chairman Mossimo Giannulli cautioned against viewing Cherbak’s departure as “us getting rid of him or him leaving us because of some hidden reason . . . I can assure you Tony is leaving for family reasons.”

Mossimo’s stock has been pounded in the last year by anxious investors who worry that the company has tried to grow too quickly. The stock hit a yearly high of $50.125 last June but plunged to a low of $5.875 in April after the company said that revenue and profit wouldn’t match analysts’ expectations.

The stock fell 25 cents a share Wednesday to close at $7.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.