Kevin Plank
to Become Chief Executive Officer; Mohamed
A. El-Erian, Under Armour's Lead Director, Named Chair of
the Board
BALTIMORE, March 13,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE:
UA, UAA) today announced that Kevin
Plank will become President & Chief Executive Officer,
effective April 1, 2024. Plank will
succeed Stephanie Linnartz, who will
be stepping down as President & Chief Executive Officer and
member of the Board. In connection with Plank's appointment, Dr.
Mohamed A. El-Erian, an independent
director since 2018 and Lead Director since 2020, will become the
non-executive Chair of the Board. Plank, who will transition from
Executive Chair of the Board, will remain a director. Linnartz will
remain an advisor to the company through April 30, 2024.
"On behalf of the full team, I want to thank Stephanie for her
contributions to Under Armour. We deeply appreciate her hard work
and dedication," said Plank. "During her tenure, she strengthened
the leadership team with executive hires in critical areas,
including product, design, supply chain, consumer connectivity, and
regional management. Her prior experience leading major brands was
instrumental in focusing our consumer strategy, including the
launch of the U.S. loyalty program, UA Rewards. Her efforts have
helped set us on the right path, and we wish her success in her
future endeavors."
"I feel honored to have served as Under Armour's President &
CEO and worked with many incredible teammates who care deeply about
the company's purpose and mission," said Linnartz. "I am proud of
our progress against our strategic plan, including strengthening
our team, evolving our products and marketing, and increasing our
focus on profitability. We have a strong foundation in place for
future growth and the company's potential is limitless. I will
continue to root for Under Armour's success."
Reflecting on his appointment, Plank said, "For nearly 30 years,
Under Armour has focused on inspiring athletes with
industry-leading, performance solutions they never knew they needed
and once they've tried them, can't imagine living without. As the
company continues to navigate several post-pandemic consumer,
industry, and brand-specific factors, we are working hard to
reconstitute our strengths and make thoughtful, balanced business
decisions to drive enduring success for athletes, customers, and
shareholders. I am energized about the team we have put into place
and look forward to seizing the opportunities ahead."
"On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Stephanie for her many
valuable contributions to Under Armour," said incoming Board Chair
Dr. El-Erian. "With Kevin's vision and drive serving as critical
components, Board members and I look forward to working closely
with him and the Under Armour leadership team to unleash
shareholder value and drive the company forward."
Plank founded Under Armour in 1996, and since then, he has been
the driving force behind its innovative products and brand. From
1996 to 2019, he served as Under Armour's Chief Executive Officer
and Chair of the Board of Directors. In January 2020, Plank was appointed Executive Chair
and Brand Chief.
Dr. Mohamed A. El-Erian is the
President of Queens' College,
University of Cambridge. Since 2014, he
has served as Chief Economic Advisor at Allianz, the corporate
parent of PIMCO, where he was chief executive and co-chief
investment officer (2007-2014). He is Chair of Gramercy Fund
Management, a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, and a contributing
editor at the Financial Times. He is a professor of practice at the
Wharton School of the University of
Pennsylvania and a Senior Global Fellow at the Lauder
Institute there. Before PIMCO, Dr. El-Erian was a managing director
at Solomon Smith Barney/Citigroup in London, and before that, he spent 15 years at
the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C., where he served as Deputy
Director before moving to the private sector. Dr. El-Erian holds
bachelor's and master's degrees from Cambridge
University and a master's and doctorate from Oxford
University.
About Under Armour, Inc.
Under Armour, Inc., headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is a leading inventor,
marketer, and distributor of branded athletic performance apparel,
footwear, and accessories. Designed to empower human performance,
Under Armour's innovative products and experiences are engineered
to make athletes better. For further information, please visit
http://about.underarmour.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements contained in this press release
constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, plans and strategies,
anticipated events or trends, and similar expressions concerning
matters that are not historical facts, such as statements regarding
our future financial condition or results of operations, our
prospects and strategies for future growth, expectations regarding
promotional activities, freight, product cost pressures, and
foreign currency impacts, the impact of global economic conditions
and inflation on our results of operations, our liquidity and use
of capital resources, the development and introduction of new
products, the implementation of our marketing and branding
strategies, the future benefits and opportunities from significant
investments, and the impact of litigation or other proceedings. In
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such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "expects," "plans,"
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risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and circumstances that may cause
events or our actual activities or results to differ significantly
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believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking
statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future events,
results, actions, activity levels, performance, or achievements.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements. A number of important factors could
cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by
these forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to:
changes in general economic or market conditions, including
inflation, that could affect overall consumer spending in our
industry; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our industry and
our business, financial condition and results of operations,
including impacts on the global supply chain; failure of our
suppliers, manufacturers or logistics providers to produce or
deliver our products in a timely or cost-effective manner; labor or
other disruptions at ports or our suppliers or manufacturers;
increased competition causing us to lose market share or reduce the
prices of our products or to increase our marketing efforts
significantly; fluctuations in the costs of raw materials and
commodities we use in our products and costs related to our supply
chain (including labor); changes to the financial health of our
customers; our ability to successfully execute our long-term
strategies; our ability to effectively develop and launch new,
innovative and updated products; our ability to accurately forecast
consumer shopping and engagement preferences and consumer demand
for our products and manage our inventory in response to changing
demands; loss of key customers, suppliers or manufacturers; our
ability to effectively market and maintain a positive brand image;
our ability to further expand our business globally and to drive
brand awareness and consumer acceptance of our products in other
countries; our ability to manage the increasingly complex
operations of our global business; the impact of global events
beyond our control, including military conflicts; our ability to
successfully manage or realize expected results from significant
transactions and investments; our ability to effectively meet the
expectations of our stakeholders with respect to environmental,
social and governance practices; the availability, integration and
effective operation of information systems and other technology, as
well as any potential interruption of such systems or technology;
any disruptions, delays or deficiencies in the design,
implementation or application of our global operating and financial
reporting information technology system; our ability to attract key
talent and retain the services of our senior management and other
key employees; our ability to effectively drive operational
efficiency in our business; our ability to access capital and
financing required to manage our business on terms acceptable to
us; our ability to accurately anticipate and respond to seasonal or
quarterly fluctuations in our operating results; risks related to
foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; our ability to comply
with existing trade and other regulations, and the potential impact
of new trade, tariff and tax regulations on our profitability;
risks related to data security or privacy breaches; and our
potential exposure to and the financial impact of litigation and
other proceedings. The forward-looking statements here reflect our
views and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. We
undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to
reflect events or circumstances after the statement's date or to
reflect unanticipated events.
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SOURCE Under Armour, Inc.