A strong case could be made for Billabong to be No. 1. They have a more visible surf team than the Stone and make some of the most popular boardshorts on the market. Oh, and Naudé & Co. also won as SIMA’s 2007 Company of the Year (In a 2000 TransWorld Business interview Naudé called out SIMA for being “ineffective”). Naudé, an ex-pro surfer from South Africa first worked as an exec at Gotcha. While there he climbed the ranks to Executive VP. After Bob Hurley left Billabong to start his namesake label, Naudé helped rebuild Billabong’s American subsidiary from within. Starting out in ‘99, Naudé has overseen a sound distribution strategy as well as an aggressive string of acquisitions: Billabong bought Von Zipper and Element in ’01 and purchased Honolua in ’04. Most recently the Company acquired Nixon and Xcel wetsuits. Such moves have created a certain level of skepticism amongst underdog-loving customers. However, being big and powerful isn’t all that bad (Billabong did roughly 614 million – in Australian dollars – during the last six months of 2006). Traded on the Australian Stock Exchange since August 11, 2000, Billabong has it made in the shade compared to their publicly traded American counterparts (Quick and the Stone). As a worldwide brand, Billabong benefits not only from having surf-crazed Australia as its home turf but also because it’s allowed to ignore Sarbanes-Oxley (the post-Enron accounting compliance nightmare that both Quik and Volcom must contend with).

California Roots: Company based in Irvine, but Naudé resides with his family in Laguna Beach.

A-List BFF: The world’s best Team of surfers…Andy, Taj, Parko, Shane, Occy, Rasta, Donovan. They also claim two Californians on this list: Cory Arrambide and Kolohe Andino.

Moment of Aquatic Prowess: In 1976, Naudé was the South African Surfing Champion. He also finished 3rd overall at the Pipe Masters that same year.

Wikipedia Did You Know: “Billabong is an Australian English word used to refer to an oxbow lake, a stagnant pool of water attached to a waterway. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end. The word is derived from two Indigenous Australian words: "billa" meaning "creek" and "bong" meaning "dead".” And all this time I thought it meant something much different.

Master of this Domain: They acquire companies faster than Al Gore puts down his first helping at Thanksgiving. After recent purchases of Nixon watches and Xcel wetsuits, Billabong now claims ownership over an impressive stable of brands that also includes Element Skateboards, Kustom Footwear, Honolua Surf as well as Von Zipper. Gobble. Gobble. Gobble.