Posted on 2/4/2016
Northrop & Johnson’s CEO Kevin Merrigan has been in the superyacht industry for more than 30 years, but his introduction was relatively unconventional. It was not the result of a lifelong dream that was carefully tended to fruition, but rather a pick-me-up purchase that turned into a passion and, with that, a lucrative career. Merrigan started out in the oil business in Colorado and, after suffering heartbreak, he convinced himself to buy a sailboat in San Diego — almost 2,000 km away. He says,
The love of the business was not a result of the purchase of the boat, however, and as it turns out — Merrigan didn’t even end up buying the sailboat he’d travelled across four states to see. Instead he struck up a conversation with the broker — or rather, several conversations. Fascinated by the yachting industry and attracted by the lifestyle, he rapidly became determi...