When Bjørn Gulden assumed control of Adidas in January 2023, the industry veteran inherited a company in turmoil.
With determination, grit and seasoned business instincts, the chief executive officer led a revival that has once again put the Three Stripes at the center of the sneaker conversation.
It’s this tenacity that led the company’s supervisory board to extend Gulden’s tenure as chief executive officer through Dec. 31, 2030.
“With his long-standing experience, his deep understanding of our industry, his strong leadership, and his clear focus on quality growth, Bjørn Gulden drove the successful turnaround of Adidas during the past three years,” Thomas Rabe, chairman of the supervisory board, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Rabe added that under Gulden’s leadership, Adidas has made “tremendous” operational and financial progress in a challenging environment, laying a strong foundation for further sustainable top- and bottom-line growth in the future.
“The extension of his contract is a clear commitment to continuity, stability, and a continued trustful collaboration between the executive board and the supervisory board,” Rabe noted. “We are convinced that, together with his executive board team, Bjørn Gulden will continue to make Adidas successful in the long run.”
Since joining the company, Gulden set out plans for a roadmap aimed to make Adidas a “healthy company” by 2026. But Gulden said during a press conference at the German company’s headquarters on Wednesday that Adidas is ahead of schedule. “We said we’d have a healthy company, but I think we can now say we have a successful company — not only in the short term but also the long term,” the CEO noted.
Indeed, the company reported that sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 grew 11 percent to 6.08 billion euros. That resulted in a net sales increase of 13 percent, on a currency neutral basis, for the full year and a sales tally of 24.81 billion euros.
“Q4 ended better than we expected,” Gulden said on Wednesday. “There were many issues in the world, it was very volatile, but we were able to deliver double-digit growth again.”
And with these global issues dominating headlines and disrupting planning for 2026, Gulden is set to navigate the Three Stripes through even more turmoil. For fiscal 2026, Adidas is expecting its growth to slow. The brand predicts that sales will continue to grow, but only in the high single digits this year.
