Thor Industries Co-Founder Buys Stock for First Time in Years

Thor Industries makes Airstreams and other RVs. Here, the Airstream assembly plant in Jackson Center, Ohio. (Luke Sharett/Bloomberg)

Thor Industries co-founder and former CEO Peter B. Orthwein purchased shares of the maker of recreational vehicles.

Thor, whose brands include Airstream, has seen its shares slump in 2025, with a year-to-date loss standing at 7%, compared with a rise of about 4.4% in the S&P 500 index.

Orthwein, who now holds the title of chairman emeritus, paid $256,200 on June 20 for 3,000 shares, an average price of $85.40 each. He made the purchase through a trust that now owns 136,400 Thor shares, according to a form Orthwein filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also owns 1.1 million Thor shares in a personal account, and 578,500 shares through trusts.

On the next business day after Orthwein’s stock purchase, June 23, Thor announced that its board retired the company’s existing share-repurchase authorization, which was set to expire on July 31, and reauthorized the buyback of up to $400 million of stock. The new authorization expires July 31, 2027.

Thor didn’t respond to a request to make Orthwein available for comment on his stock purchase.

Orthwein last bought stock on the open market in October 2022 when he paid $1.45 million for 20,000 shares, an average price of $72.50 each.

Write to Ed Lin edward.lin@barrons.com