Mike Segar/Reuters
CEO Nick Woodman celebrates at GoPro's IPO with a few of the company's cameras in June 2014
GoPro announced that it had hired Danny Coster, a longtime Apple veteran who is listed on Apple patents going back to 1995, to be its Vice President of Design. Coster was a key member of Apple design boss Jony Ive's team. At GoPro he will report directly to CEO Nick Woodman.
After the news, which was first reported by The Information, GoPro's stock climbed throughout Wednesday's trading session, finishing the day up 19% at $13.90. Shares of GoPro traded hands at nearly three times the rate of its 3-month average.
The big hire appears to have injected confidence among shareholders who have punished the stock in recent months over revenue shortfalls and concerns about the company's innovation. Shares of GoPro are down roughly 79% from their 52-week high of $65.49.
In GoPro's announcement of the news, Woodman said he first met Coster 15 years ago at a beach in Sayulita, Mexico, during a 5-month surfing trip in which Woodman developed the initial prototype for the camera.