Adidas AG will pay former Chief Executive Officer Kasper Rorsted about €16 million ($16.9 million) as part of a termination agreement after he was ousted following months of turmoil at the German sneaker brand.
(Bloomberg) — Adidas AG will pay former Chief Executive Officer Kasper Rorsted about €16 million ($16.9 million) as part of a termination agreement after he was ousted following months of turmoil at the German sneaker brand.
The payout includes €12 million as severance, €3.6 million as compensation for a non-compete clause over the coming 18 months and another €300,000 to cover Rorsted’s contract for the period from November 12 to December 31 of last year, according to the company’s 2022 annual report.
Rorsted agreed to step down as CEO four years before his contract was set to expire in 2026. It ended a tumultuous six-year tenure where early achievements were overshadowed by repeated profit warnings, a consumer boycott in China, and a crisis following the end of the partnership with the rapper Ye.
The disclosure of Rorsted’s payout Wednesday coincided with the company saying it plans to slash the dividend by 79% this year and could report a loss for the first time in more than three decades. Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer told reporters that Adidas was following German corporate governance guidelines when it came to determining Rorsted’s severance terms.
“It is what it is,” Ohlmeyer said. “We are looking forwards, not backwards.”
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