NEEDHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 22, 2025--
SharkNinja, Inc (NYSE: SN), a global product design and technology company, has appointed Howard Nuk as Chief Advanced Development & Design Officer (CADDO). Nuk is a product design and innovation executive with over 25 years of experience creating noteworthy products and shaping new categories for iconic brands such as Beats by Dre, Samsung, and Square.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250722344820/en/
In this newly created role, Nuk will lead front-end concept development and early-stage product architecture. His focus is turning bold, disruptive ideas into the next generation of consumer-loved SharkNinja products. He will report directly to Ross Richardson, Chief Design Officer.
“We’re incredibly excited to welcome Howard to the SharkNinja team,” said Richardson. “His rare blend of product design vision, entrepreneurial mindset, and experience pioneering new products across industries makes him uniquely equipped to push the boundaries of innovation and elevate SharkNinja to new heights.”
As CADDO, Nuk will lead a global team of product developers to deliver consumer-focused concept designs and guide them through each phase of early development, ultimately preparing breakthrough ideas for seamless transition into SharkNinja’s New Product Development pipeline for mass production.
“I’m thrilled to join SharkNinja and lead the Advanced Development team because here, bold design meets fearless problem-solving,” said Nuk. “This is where I can push the limits of creativity alongside a world-class, cross-disciplinary team. Together, we’ll create breakthrough products that not only improve everyday lives but redefine entire categories.”
Nuk’s more than 25-year career includes leading product design for iconic consumer tech, automotive, and luxury lifestyle brands. Most recently, he served as Chief Designer & Vice President of Design at Luminar, where he led the development of next-generation LiDAR systems for safety and autonomy, including a collaboration with Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 to design the world’s safest Safety Car.
Previously, he was Senior Vice President of Design & Innovation at Restoration Hardware, where he elevated the brand’s luxury furniture collections and digital experience. Prior to that, Nuk co-founded Palm, reimagining the iconic Palm brand with a minimalist mobile experience. In partnership with NBA champion Stephen Curry and Verizon, Nuk and his team launched the world’s first companion mini-smartphone in 2018.
Earlier in his career, Nuk was Vice President of Design at Samsung, where he helped pioneer new product categories, including over a dozen wearables like Galaxy Buds and Gear S2. He also served as VP of Industrial Design at Ammunition, developing Beats by Dre headphones and collaborating with Jack Dorsey on the Square product ecosystem. Nuk also spent more than a decade as a Creative Director at frog design, leading projects for clients such as Disney, Intel, and Starbucks.
Nuk has judged global design awards and spoken at leading design and tech forums. He’s been named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People and holds 100+ patents along with dozens of design awards including iF, Red Dot, and IDSA.
About SharkNinja
SharkNinja is a global product design and technology company, with a diversified portfolio of 5-star rated lifestyle solutions that positively impact people’s lives in homes around the world. Powered by two trusted, global brands, Shark and Ninja, the company has a proven track record of bringing disruptive innovation to market and developing one consumer product after another has allowed SharkNinja to enter multiple product categories, driving significant growth and market share gains. Headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts with more than 3,600 associates, the company’s products are sold at key retailers, online and offline, and through distributors around the world. For more information, please visit sharkninja.com.
SharkNinja Hires Howard Nuk as Chief Advanced Development & Design Officer
NEW YORK (AP) — Not long ago, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was demonized by leaders of both political parties. On Thursday night, the 34-year-old democratic socialist was celebrated as a political force, the face of the region's sports renaissance, even the leader of “Mamdanistan."
In a rally with Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that drew thousands to a Brooklyn theater, the emboldened mayor delivered a fiery message to Democratic leaders in Washington — and even those considering 2028 presidential bids — as he worked to elevate a slate of likeminded candidates in Tuesday's New York primaries.
“People often ask me what I think of the state of the Democratic Party. This slate here today is our answer," Mamdani declared. "The Democratic Party must change.”
“The party of the past will not be what leads us into the future. We need a Democratic Party with backbone."
He shared the stage with three congressional candidates, including two running against Democratic incumbents. All three identify, or have identified, as democratic socialists. They promised to “abolish ICE,” condemned the “genocide” in Israel and vowed to "tax the rich" if elected.
The collection of congressional candidates he’s backing represent a political gamble for Mamdani, whose picks may not win Tuesday, and a potential headache for Democratic leaders, who fear that Mamdani’s allies may push the party too far left. It's the latest way Mamdani is testing the limits of his newfound political muscle, even if it means challenging his own party’s leadership.
Sanders cheered him on Thursday night, noting that democratic socialists fighting for working-class voters like Mamdani have been elected across the country in recent months.
“The politics and the policies of the democratic establishment are no longer good enough,” Sanders charged. “In this dangerous and unprecedented moment in American history, tinkering around the edges just won’t work.”
Establishment Democrats are not pleased with the mayor's decisions.
Mamdani endorsed political organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier over Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in New York's 13th District, which includes parts of upper Manhattan and the Bronx.
Mamdani is also backing former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running against incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in New York's 10th District. And in New York's 7th, he's supporting democratic socialist state Assembly Member Claire Valdez against outgoing Rep. Nydia Velazquez’s handpicked successor.
All three congressional candidates stood arm-in-arm with the mayor Thursday and spoke from a podium emblazoned with the sign “Our team, our year.”
“Right now there’s really mass dissatisfaction with the way the party leadership has been operating and not standing up strongly enough to Trump,” Valdez told The Associated Press before the rally, where she promised to “Free Palestine” and “abolish ICE.”
She said she hopes to “bring a partner to Zohran to Washington.”
Valdez's primary opponent, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, said he feels like the underdog in the race, even though he was endorsed by the outgoing incumbent. He said Mamdani “has a celebrity status that we haven’t seen the likes of since I’ve been alive.”
“He’s going to be our champion for the foreseeable future and he’s doing a great job, and when he says that he’s endorsing someone, it matters,” Reynoso said in an interview. “I believe that this community has seen me work, they know I’m a progressive champion, and in any other circumstance I would be a favorite to win this race, but I’m not because he has tipped the scale.”
The candidates are largely aligned on the biggest issues, although there are modest differences.
Israel’s war in Gaza has featured heavily among the Mamdani slate, with Lander, Valdez and Avila Chevalier casting their Democratic opponents as too soft on Israel. The mayor’s candidates also sought to replicate much of the platform that sent him to City Hall, focusing on the city’s high cost of living and framing themselves as fresh faces not beholden to powerful business interests.
Avila Chevalier went after Espaillat at Thursday’s rally for accepting major donations from real estate developers and Wall Street.
“You cannot take working people for granted. And you cannot outspend a movement whose time has come,” she said. “We are done being ignored.”
On Capitol Hill, Democrats are pleasantly surprised that Mamdani has become less of a political liability for the party in swing district seats than they once feared.
But Mamdani’s endorsements have aggravated intraparty fissures, especially among moderates who worry that Mamdani's far-left brand may eventually tarnish the entire party.
And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a fellow New Yorker, has tried to push back against the Mamdani-backed democratic socialist challengers, endorsing and campaigning for the embattled incumbents in a proxy fight with the mayor.
But Jeffries and Mamdani have opted to wrestle only in primaries rather than bicker publicly and feed into GOP narratives of Democratic disarray.
“Democrats must understand, and both the leader and Mamdani appreciate this, how to yell in areas where we agree and whisper in areas where we diverge,” said Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist who works with House Democrats.
For now, Jeffries' allies acknowledge that Mamdani has energized Democratic voters and may be able to reach some Americans who have checked out of the political process. They also prefer that Mamdani is hyper-focused on New York City’s governance rather than traveling across the country.
And yet Mamdani made clear Thursday that he wants his message to be heard nationally.
He referenced the Democratic Party's 2028 presidential nomination contest, saying it begins Tuesday when New York Democrats pick their general election nominees.
“For far too long our party has seen its job as managing decline instead of delivering material change for working people,” Mamdani said. “That old way of thinking will lose on Tuesday. And frankly it will lose in South Carolina and New Hampshire.”
Meanwhile, Republicans plan to elevate Mamdani's profile as well.
The GOP hasn't made Mamdani a central feature of its broader national messaging as it once threatened, but Republican operatives have sought to link Mamdani to Democratic House candidates in swing districts across California, Colorado and Wisconsin. They also believe the specter of the New York City mayor will loom large in pivotal House races in New York and New Jersey.
The Republican bet is that vulnerable Democrats cannot afford to break with Mamdani too cleanly for fear of alienating progressive voters, even as they cast him as a radical.
“Zohran Mamdani’s socialist brand is as toxic as it comes,” said Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans’ campaign arm. “And during a time when Democrats don’t have a leader or a message, he’s exactly the kind of bogeyman we can use against Democrats to truly show who is leading their party and the crazy policies they all support.”
Sanders' senior adviser Faiz Shakir encouraged the GOP to try.
He said “the crowd goes nuts” when Sanders mentions Mamdani in almost every speech as he tours the nation rallying voters ahead of the midterms.
“He’s seeing that opportunity — that we can radically change the Democratic Party,” Shakir said of Mamdani, whom he described as a friend. “He certainly is not a political liability.”
Brown reported in Washington.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT., speaks during a Get Out The Vote rally ahead of New York's primary election, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a Get Out The Vote rally ahead of New York's primary election, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, right, gestures on stage with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT., during a Get Out The Vote rally ahead of New York's primary election, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Democratic Congressional candidates, Claire Valdez, Brad Lander, and Darializa Avila gesture on stage with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a Get Out The Vote rally ahead of New York's primary election, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani arrives to take part in the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, Sunday, June 14, 2026 in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
