Kasper Rørsted
| Kasper Rørsted | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 24, 1962 (age 64) Aarhus, Denmark |
| Nationality | Danish |
| Education | Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College Harvard Business School (executive education) |
| Occupation | Business executive |
| Company | Adidas |
| Title | Former CEO, Adidas (2016 to 2022) Former CEO, Henkel (2008 to 2016) |
| Spouse | Married |
| Children | 4 |
Kasper Rørsted (born 24 February 1962) is a Danish business executive who was chief executive of the German sportswear company Adidas from 2016 until 2022, and before that chief executive of the consumer goods group Henkel from 2008 to 2016.
Rørsted is among the small group of Scandinavian executives who have run major German listed companies. His record at Henkel, where market capitalisation quadrupled during his tenure, established a reputation for disciplined cost management and portfolio focus. His subsequent period at Adidas was more contested: it included strong growth through 2019, severe disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, the divestment of Reebok, and finally the collapse of the Yeezy partnership with the rapper Ye, which contributed to his early departure.
Early life and education
Rørsted was born on 24 February 1962 in Denmark. During his school years he played handball for the Danish national youth team, an experience he has cited in connection with his later work in sportswear.
He studied at Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College and later completed executive education at Harvard Business School. He did not take a conventional university degree, a fact regularly noted in coverage of his appointment to lead two of Germany's largest listed companies.
Career
Technology industry
Rørsted began his career in the information technology sector, working for Oracle, Digital Equipment Corporation and Compaq. From 2001 to 2002 he was managing director of the Compaq Enterprise Business Group for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and following Compaq's merger with Hewlett-Packard he served as managing director of HP for the same region from 2002 to 2004.
Henkel
Rørsted joined Henkel, the Düsseldorf-based manufacturer of adhesives, laundry products and cosmetics, as a member of the management board in 2005. He became vice chairman in 2007 and chief executive in 2008, taking charge shortly before the global financial crisis.
His tenure at Henkel is regarded as the strongest phase of his career. He imposed tighter cost discipline across a company that had grown through acquisition into a complex portfolio, concentrated investment on a smaller number of leading brands, and pursued growth in emerging markets. The group's market capitalisation quadrupled to more than 36 billion euros during his eight years in charge, and Henkel's margins moved from the bottom of its peer group toward the top.
Adidas
In January 2016 it was announced that Rørsted would leave Henkel to become chief executive of Adidas, succeeding Herbert Hainer, who had run the company for sixteen years. He took office in October 2016.
The early part of his tenure was strong. Adidas gained substantial market share in North America, the market where it had historically been weakest against Nike, and the retro Originals range performed exceptionally well. Rørsted pushed the company toward direct-to-consumer selling through its own stores and digital channels, reducing dependence on wholesale retailers, and cut the number of product lines significantly.
The COVID-19 pandemic reversed much of this. Store closures across Europe and North America in 2020 removed a large share of revenue, and the recovery was complicated by supply chain disruption, factory closures in Vietnam, and the slower than expected return of Chinese consumer demand.
In August 2021 Adidas agreed to sell Reebok to Authentic Brands Group for up to 2.1 billion euros, considerably less than the 3.1 billion euros Adidas had paid for the brand in 2006. Rørsted presented the sale as a necessary focus on the core Adidas brand; critics noted that it confirmed the acquisition as a long-running failure.
The supervisory board extended his contract to 2026 in 2020. In August 2022, however, Adidas announced that Rørsted and the board had agreed by mutual consent that he would hand over the position during 2023. He left in November 2022, and the company paid approximately 16 million dollars in compensation for the early departure. Bjørn Gulden, then chief executive of Puma, succeeded him.
Other roles
Rørsted has served on the boards of Siemens and Nestlé, and has been a member of the European Round Table for Industry.
Controversies
Rent deferral during the pandemic
In April 2020 Adidas announced that it would suspend rent payments on its closed stores in Germany, invoking emergency legislation intended to protect businesses unable to pay during lockdown. The decision produced an immediate and severe public reaction. Adidas was a profitable company with substantial cash reserves, and critics including the German justice minister argued that it was exploiting a provision designed for businesses facing insolvency.
Within days the company reversed the decision and apologised publicly. Rørsted personally addressed the episode, acknowledging that the company had misjudged how the decision would be perceived. The affair is frequently cited in German business commentary as a case study in reputational risk, and it damaged his standing in Germany for the remainder of his tenure.
Xinjiang cotton boycott
In March 2021 Adidas was among Western brands targeted by a consumer boycott in China after earlier statements expressing concern about reports of forced labour in Xinjiang cotton production resurfaced on Chinese social media. Chinese celebrities terminated endorsement contracts and the brand was removed from major domestic e-commerce platforms. The boycott contributed materially to a sustained decline in Adidas revenue in China, its most profitable market, from which the company had not recovered by the time Rørsted left.
Termination of the Yeezy partnership
The Adidas partnership with the rapper Ye, formerly Kanye West, produced the Yeezy footwear line, which by 2021 accounted for a substantial portion of the company's profit. The relationship deteriorated publicly through 2022. Ye criticised Rørsted by name in June 2022, accusing Adidas of copying his designs and of operating a counterfeit Yeezy programme.
In October 2022, following a series of antisemitic statements by Ye, Adidas terminated the partnership. The decision was widely supported but came after several days in which the company said it was reviewing the relationship, a delay for which it was criticised. The termination left Adidas holding roughly 1.2 billion euros of unsold inventory and removed a major profit contributor. Announcement of Rørsted's departure had preceded the termination by two months, but the two events are commonly linked in accounts of the end of his tenure.
Performance and communication
Investors and analysts criticised Rørsted during his final two years for issuing repeated profit warnings and for what was perceived as insufficient candour about the extent of the problems in China and in the supply chain. Supporters argued that the difficulties were largely external, arising from a pandemic, a consumer boycott and a partner's conduct, none of which were within his control. His successor's rapid improvement of results at Adidas has been cited by both sides of that argument.
Personal life
Rørsted is married with four children. The family lives in Munich. He is a keen cyclist and has spoken about the role of endurance sport in his working routine.
See also
References