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

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of German sportwear firm

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

from 2016 until November 2022.

Early life and education

During high school, Rørsted played handball for Denmark's national youth team. He went on to study at Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College with further Executive Education at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which 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 also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

''.

Career

Early career

In his early career, Rørsted worked with

Oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

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 until ...

, and

Compaq Compaq Computer Corporation was an American information technology, information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced some of the first IBM PC compati ...

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

EMEA Europe, the Middle East and Africa, commonly known by its acronym EMEA among the North American business spheres, is a geographical region used by institutions, governments and global spheres of marketing, media and business when referring to t ...

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

Henkel Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Henkel, is a German multinational chemical and consumer goods company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. Founded in 1876, the DAX company is organized into two globally operating business units (Cons ...

, 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. 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. Adidas paid 16 million USD as compensation for his early departure.

Other activities

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

Siemens AG Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the posit ...

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

, and

European Round Table of Industrialists The European Round Table for Industry (previously known as the European Round Table of Industrialists), abbreviated ERT, is a cross-sectoral forum and advocacy group in the European Union consisting of some 60 European industrial businesspeople wo ...

(ERT).Members

Personal life

Rørsted is married with four children. The family resides in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

References

External links

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

Århus Stiftstidende ''Århus Stiftstidende'' (colloquially ''Stiften'') is a Danish language, Danish newspaper based in Aarhus, Denmark, focusing largely on local topics. The independent newspaper with a bourgeois character has suffered a considerable decline in ci ...

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