Kasper Rørsted (born 24 February 1962) is a Danish business executive who has been the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of German sportwear firm

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

since 2016. On 22 August 2022, it was announced that he would hand over his role as CEO during the course of 2023.

Early life and education

During high school, Rørsted played handball for Denmark's national youth team. He went on to study at

Copenhagen Business School Copenhagen Business School (Danish'': Handelshøjskolen i København'') often abbreviated and referred to as CBS (also in Danish), is a public university situated in Copenhagen, Denmark and is considered one of the most prestigious business schoo ...

with further Executive Education at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

.James Shotter (January 22, 2016)
Kasper Rorsted brings intellectual curiosity to Adidas
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Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

''.

Career

Early career

In his early career, Rørsted worked with

Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

Digital Equipment Corporation Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president unt ...

, and

Compaq Compaq Computer Corporation (sometimes abbreviated to CQ prior to a 2007 rebranding) was an American information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced ...

. From 2001 to 2002, he was managing director of Compaq Enterprise Business Group in

EMEA EMEA is a shorthand designation meaning Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The acronym is used by institutions and governments, as well as in marketing and business when referring to this region: it is a shorthand way of referencing the two ...

. He moved to the managing director position at HP EMEA from 2002 to 2004. In 2005 he became director at

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Henkel, is a German multinational chemical and consumer goods company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. It is active in both the consumer and industrial sectors. Founded in 1876, the DAX company is organi ...

, become vice chairman in 2007 and CEO in 2008. Under his stewardship, the group's market capitalization quadrupled to more than €36 billion. In January 2016, it was announced that Kasper would leave the company to become CEO of

, replacing

Herbert Hainer Herbert Hainer (born 3 July 1954) is a German businessman and the former CEO of Adidas-Group, as well as supervisory board chairman of the FC Bayern Munich AG. He is currently the president of the football club FC Bayern Munich. Education H ...

. In 2020, the Adidas supervisory board extended his contract until 2026. In 2022, however, Rørsted and the company's supervisory board had mutually agreed that he would hand over his position during the course of 2023.

Other activities

Rørsted has been a member of several corporate boards and non-profit organizations, including

Siemens AG Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

, and

European Round Table of Industrialists The European Round Table of Industrialists, abbreviated ERT, is an advocacy group in the European Union consisting of some 50 European industrial leaders working to strengthen competitiveness in Europe. The group works at both national and European ...

(ERT).Members

Personal life

Rørsted is married with four children. The family resides in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

References

External links

"Blue book: Kasper Rørsted (Danish)"
''

Århus Stiftstidende ''Århus Stiftstidende'' (colloquially ''Stiften'') is a Danish newspaper based in Aarhus, Denmark, focusing largely on local topics. History and profile First published by Niels Lund on 3 January 1794, ''Århus Stiftstidende'' is among the old ...

''. Retrieved Jan 18, 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rørsted, Kasper Living people 1962 births People from Aarhus Danish chief executives Harvard Business School alumni Adidas people Henkel