“My current contract with Puma ends Dec. 31, 2022, and after nine years, I have decided not to renew,” CEO Bjørn Gulden is quoted in the German sporting goods manufacturer’s latest statement on Nov. 4 announcing that the company’s supervisory board appointed Arne Freundt as Puma’s CEO and chairman of the executive board. Freundt will receive a contract for four years. This will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2023, with Gulden leaving the company at the end of 2022.
“In Arne Freundt, we have a recognized leader within the company taking over as CEO. He has been a designated candidate and is the ideal choice to continue Puma’s very successful path and to further accelerate the Company’s momentum. He carries the Puma family in his heart and will ensure that Puma continues to be the best partner for Puma’s retailers, suppliers and athletes,” said Héloïse Temple-Boyer, chair of the supervisory board.
Freundt has worked for Puma for more than ten years and has been a member of the executive board as chief commercial officer since June 2021. During his time at Puma, he held various positions and was responsible for corporate strategy, the global DTC business and the EMEA region as general manager.
“I have had nine great years with the Puma family, and I am very proud of what we have achieved together,” commented Gulden. “Even during difficult times, we have had great momentum and delivered record results in revenue and earnings. […] I felt it was the right time for Puma, my successor and me to leave now. I still have a lot of energy and want to at least continue five to ten more years in an operational role, which I think would have been too long for Puma.”
The sporting goods manufacturer had recently once again managed to defy the challenging market conditions: In Q3 2022, the company achieved a significant increase in sales, and profits also exceeded the corresponding level of the previous year. Q3 was thus “the best quarter in Puma’s history.”
“I feel privileged to be given this opportunity by the supervisory board to lead this great company with its fantastic people and take Puma to the next level,” Freundt said. “Bjørn has been an inspiring leader, and I am very thankful for the joint journey.”
Gulden is not the only CEO to leave a major sporting goods brand at the end of the year. Adidas, Puma’s neighbor in the same German municipality, Herzogenaurach, announced in August that Kasper Rorsted would also be leaving his position as CEO – a position he had held since 2016 – and that the search for a successor had already begun. After some rumors suggested that Puma’s announcement could not be a coincidence, Adidas confirmed on the same day that it was in talks with Gulden as a possible successor to Rorsted.
