Adidas appoints new CEO

Adidas has appointed Kasper Rorsted (pictured) as its new CEO effective 1 October, 2016.He succeeds Herbert Hainer who has held the post for the last 14 years.Rorsted has headed up the German DAX company Henkel as CEO since 2008. He will join the Adidas Group as a member of the executive board on August 1, 2016 in order to ensure a smooth transition at the helm of the Group together with Herbert Hainer.The announcement made on Monday led to Henkel’s immediate loss of US$2 billion of market value, while Adidas, a smaller company, immediately gained US$1 billion, Fortune reported.Rorsted has extensive international management experience, having held positions with high-calibre companies such as Oracle, Compaq and Hewlett Packard.Igor Landau, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Adidas, said: “Rorsted is the perfect candidate to succeed Herbert Hainer as CEO of adidas AG.  For eight years, he has very successfully headed up Henkel, a DAX company that just like the Adidas Group is known for its growth, internationality and sustainability.”Under Heiner’s leadership, Adidas Group sales have tripled, net income and the number of employees have quadrupled, and the value of the company has increased from three billion to 18 billion.Landau added: “I am pleased that Herbert Hainer will continue this success story during his remaining term of office and that, together with his successor, he will ensure the best possible transition at the helm of adidas AG.”