Adidas CEO Stepping Down in 2023, Search for Replacement in Progress
Kasper Rorsted will be stepping down as CEO of Adidas AG in 2023, as part of a mutually agreed upon decision with the supervisory board, according to the company. Until Adidas has secured a replacement, Rorsted will remain in the role. The search for a successor is in progress.
Thomas Rabe, chairman of the supervisory board of Adidas, said that during his tenure, Rorsted strategically repositioned the company and fast-forwarded its digital transformation.
“We would like to thank Kasper for his major achievements,” said Rabe. “Under Kasper’s leadership, Adidas has substantially advanced its digital capabilities and grown its online sales by a factor of more than five. In North America, the world’s largest sporting goods market, Adidas has doubled its sales.”
Rabe said the company identified this as the right time to initiate a CEO transition and “pave the way for a restart,” following a challenging three years due to COVID-19 and the successful divestiture of TaylorMade, CCM Hockey, and Reebok. Rabe stated the company is now able to focus its efforts on its core brand, Adidas.
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The news comes as the company looks to bolster its presence across the marketplace, replacing Nike in a partnership with Foot Locker focused on product innovation, elevated experiences, and deeper consumer connectivity.
Additionally, the brand is in the midst of a four-year transformation strategy called Own the Game, which is founded on five consumer trends: leisure, betterment, digital, sustainability, and premiumization. It expects the majority of net sales to stem from products created and sold digitally by 2025 as the company focuses on digital growth.
“Consumers prefer to shop with their favorite brands directly, hence the mono-brand part of the market is expected to grow twice as fast as the multi-brand,” said Rorsted in a call to investors earlier this year. “As consumers shop more and more online, online channels will be growing three times faster than offline channels and represent more than 40% of the industry by 2025. So we're doubling down on the biggest opportunities in an already extremely attractive industry.”
“Adidas is an iconic sports brand. As a company, we have achieved great progress in strategic areas of our business. I am proud of our achievements as a team,” said Rorsted. “The past years have been marked by several external factors that disrupted our business significantly. It required huge efforts to master these challenges. This is why enabling a restart in 2023 is the right thing to do — both for the company and me personally.”
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Rorsted emphasized that the company is heading in the right direction, pointing to the double-digit growth in 85% of the business.
“In the months to come, our focus will be to accelerate our growth as soon as all markets can operate without major disruptions. Together with the Adidas team I am looking forward to realizing this growth and, jointly with the supervisory board, to ensuring a smooth transition at the helm of the company,” said Rorsted.
