Adidas extends CFO appointment amid Yeezy financial crisis

Adidas’ Supervisory Board has extended Harm Ohlmeyer’s position as Chief Financial Officer by another three years amid the potential impact of dropping Kanye West's partnership with the brand.

Harm Ohlmeyer has been a member of the Executive Board of Adidas since March 2017 and held the position of CFO since May 2017.

CEO, Bjørn Gulden, commented: "I have known Harm for many years. We even worked together at Adidas in the '90s. He brings exactly the knowledge, experience, and attitude that we need to turn things around. I really look forward to partnering with him and making Adidas the best sports brand in the world once again."

This follows the news that Adidas revenues declined 1% in Q4 as a result of the termination of its partnership with Kayne West. Q4 also saw an operating loss of £645.2 million (€724 million), with a net loss from continuing operations of €482 million.

The board is also undergoing further executive changes, with newly-appointed Arthur Hoeld taking responsibility for global sales, effective 1 April 2023.

Hoeld has been with the company for 25 years, most recently as Managing Director of the company’s EMEA region since 2018. He will succeed Roland Auschel, who has decided to step down from his role after 33 years at the company.

Thomas Rabe, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Adidas, said: "On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, I would like to congratulate Roland Auschel on his career at our company and thank him for his passion, commitment, and leadership throughout the past 33 years.

"At the same time, we are pleased that with Arthur we are able to appoint an excellent internal candidate to the Executive Board. With his commercial experience and excellent brand track record, he brings extensive knowledge about our business, our brand and our products to his new role on our Executive Board."

Brian Grevy, Executive Board member of Adidas, responsible for Global Brands, will also be stepping down with CEO Bjørn assuming his responsibilities.

As of 1 April 2023, the company’s new Executive Board will consist of:

• Bjørn Gulden (Chief Executive Officer and Global Brands)
• Arthur Hoeld (Head of Global Sales)
• Harm Ohlmeyer (Chief Financial Officer)
• Amanda Rajkumar (Global Human Resources, People and Culture)
• Martin Shankland (Global Operations)