Under Armour has announced that Kevin Plank, its founder and CEO, is stepping down from his role as chief executive officer in three months’ time. Plank has run the company since founding it in his grandmother’s basement in 1996 when he was still in college, reports CNBC. In the 23 years since, Plank has taken the company from nothing to a $9 billion operation.
Under Armour’s current chief operating officer, Patrik Frisk, will replace Plank on January 1, 2020. On that date, Plank will become the executive chairman and brand chief for the company. Frisk only joined Under Armour a little more than two years ago, but he’s been a driving force in the company’s three-year transformation plan, according to CNBC, which includes defining the company’s target customer and improvements to logistics and the supply chain.
In a statement announcing his retirement as CEO, Plank said:
Patrik is the right person to serve as Under Armour’s next CEO. As my partner during the most transformative chapter in our history, he has been exceptional in his ability to translate our brand’s vision into world-class execution by focusing on our long-term strategy and re-engineering our ecosystem through a strategic operational and cultural transformation.
Under Armour has been a public company since 2005. In 2019 its stock is up 14% year-to-date as of Monday. As of Monday’s closing price, the company’s market value was $9.1 billion.
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