The company’s founder, Leon Slikkers, owned and operated another yacht building company before he founded his second company, S2 Yachts (parent company to Tiara). Even before that, Slikkers worked at Chris Craft. Slikkers' next move in his career was owning and operating Slickcraft, which focused on building motor-powered boats. In the late 1960s, many large public yacht companies were looking to buy smaller companies in the interest of drawing new stockholders and diversifying their stock. A company based in New York, called American Machine and Foundry (AMF), gained interest in Slickcraft. In September 1969, Slikkers sold the company, while still holding his position as President. After a few years with this new company, Slikkers left claiming that they were not committed to the same level of excellence as he was. Slikkers then proceeded to leave AMF and Slickcraft behind to create a new company with his sons, which his family stills owns and operates today, S2 Yachts and all of its ‘child’ companies such as Tiara Yachts.