Adidas appoints new CEO

Adidas has appointed Kasper Rorsted as its new CEO. Currently, he is still Henkel‘s CEO, but starting in October 2016, he will take over from Herbert Hainer, who will lead the German sports brand until then.

Current CEO pays the price for weak performance

Rorsted will join Adidas in August, but merely as a board member, before taking over as CEO two months later. Shareholders have already reacted positively to his appointment, especially as they were not happy with how things were going under the tutelage of Hainer.

Hainer has been Adidas’ CEO for 14 years, but was put under pressure last year when it turned out that the company’s golf branch was experiencing a huge setback. Weaker North American and Russian results, one of Adidas’ prime markets and the fact that he kept losing ground to competitor Nike and newcomer Under Armour were the final nail in his coffin. 

Hainer kept repeating he would stay on until the end of his current contract, which is until March 2017. He even expects 2016 to be a record year for Adidas, but he has now agreed to say goodbye to the company several months before his contract runs out.