Adidas Names Puma Boss Its New Chief Executive

adidas AG - Depositary Receipt (Common Stock)
US ˙ OTCPK ˙ US00687A1079

Adidas Names Puma Boss Its New Chief Executive

New boss faces task of fixing business and image

Adidas Names Puma Boss Its New Chief Executive
2022-11-08 22:57
DE US

On Monday, German athletic apparel company Adidas (DE:ADS) (US:ADDYY)said it named  Bjorn Gulden from rival Puma as its new chief executive officer. 

Adidas shares rose on Tuesday along with the broader market. 

Gulden replaces Kasper Rorsted, who will step down on Friday, and Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer will serve as interim CEO until Jan. 1. 

Adidas said over the summer that Mr. Rorsted would leave the company after disappointing results and cuts to financial expectations. 

Two weeks ago, Adidas said a one-two punch of weakening sales and pricing in western markets and ongoing production woes in China hit results.  

The warning was Adidas's third this year.  

It said its upcoming earnings would show roughly  500 million euros of costs to exit Russia. Late Thursday, Adidas warned that it expects a big blow to its bottom line from one-off costs mainly relating to its previously announced Russian exit.  

It also cut its revenue outlook and saw sales growth in the mid single digits against the previous mid to high single digits forecast.  

Like many rivals, Adidas said the consumer slowdown backed up inventory and expects that to weigh on margins, which it also said would fall this year. 

On the marketing side, the company recently ended a high profile deal with rapper Kanye West over widely reported incidences of antisemitism. 

Gulden, 57, is from Norway and worked for Adidas in his early career, and served as senior vice president for apparel and accessories for seven years in the 1990s. He's been CEO of Puma SE since 2013.  

Before that, he was CEO of the Danish jewelry brand Pandora. 

Other Listings
DE:ADS1 88,50 €
Fintel data has been cited in the following publications:
Daily Mail Fox Business Business Insider Wall Street Journal The Washington Post Bloomberg Financial Times Globe and Mail
NASDAQ.com Reuters The Guardian Associated Press FactCheck.org Snopes Politifact
Federal Register The Intercept Forbes Fortune Magazine TheStreet Time Magazine Canadian Broadcasting Corporation International Business Times
Cambridge University Press Investopedia MarketWatch NY Daily News Entrepreneur Newsweek Barron's El Economista