adidas: talks with Bjørn Gulden, CEO of Puma, to replace Kasper Rorsted as head of the group

"adidas confirms that it is in talks with Bjørn Gulden (NOR), CEO of Puma, as a potential successor to adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted (DEN)," announced the German equipment manufacturer on 04/11/2022. The latter had announced that he would give up his position (which he had held since August 2016) "during the course of 2023", i.e. three years before the planned end of his contract (31/07/2026), on 22/08/2022.

For his part, Bjørn Gulden has been at the head of Puma since 01/07/2013. He succeeded the German Franz Koch, who had been in office since July 2011. Since November 2014, the Norwegian has also been a member of the supervisory board of Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga), for which Puma is the official equipment supplier (2012-2028, €31.25m per season since 2020).

Following this announcement, adidas' share price (Frankfurt Stock Exchange, DAX) rose by 20%, while Puma's fell by 0.5%, according to the French daily newspaper Le Figaro on 04/11/2022. adidas posted a turnover of €21.2bn in 2021 (+15% versus 2020), compared to €6.8bn (+31.7%) for Puma the same year.