Bjorn Gulden will become CEO of Adidas on January 1, 2023 replacing outgoing CEO Kasper Rorsted, the sportswear maker said in a statement on Tuesday.
Gulden had served as senior vice president at Adidas in the 1990s before joining Puma where he was appointed CEO in 2013.
The 57-year-old Norwegian is credited with turning a smaller sports company into a profitable business, which reported its highest ever quarterly sales between July and September.
Arne Freundt was named the head of Puma with immediate effect on Tuesday.
“We are very pleased to welcome Bjorn Gulden back at Adidas. [He] brings almost 30 years of experience in the sporting goods and footwear industry,” Adidas chairman Thomas Rabe said in a statement. “As CEO of Puma, he re-invigorated the brand and led the company to record results.”
Adidas confirmed last Friday that it was in talks with Gulden, a report that sent its stock up 20%. Shares of the company gained around 1% in Frankfurt after the appointment was confirmed Tuesday.
Adidas cut its full-year forecast last month as the company is facing a boycott against Western brands in China, the impact from its exit from Russia and the termination of its partnership with Kanye West last month, which is expected to have a negative impact of up to 250 million euros on net income this year.
