Stephanie Linnartz had even less time than expected to fix Under Armour’s many problems.
Linnartz, a seasoned executive who previously served as No. 2 at Marriott International, left the global hotel chain last year to become CEO of Under Armour. On February 27, 2023, she took over the struggling sportswear chain. said today, she will step down as CEO at the end of this month after serving in the role for just over a year. She said her turnaround strategy would take three years to implement.
Kevin Plank, Under Armour’s controversial founder and controlling shareholder, will once again become its CEO, effective April 1. The latest boomerang CEO to return to his old job (a group that includes Disney’s Bob Iger and Starbucks’ Howard Schultz) will be his fourth CEO of the company in four years. He first “stepped down” in January 2020 to become executive chairman and continues to own 65% of the company’s voting shares.
Under Armor did not give a reason for the sudden change in CEO, and a spokesman declined to comment. IN Post on LinkedInPlank thanked Linnartz for her contributions to Under Armour: “She has helped move the company forward in many important ways, including developing our leadership in product, design, supply chain, customer loyalty and regional management,” he wrote. “There is still a lot of work to be done, but her leadership has put us on the right path to victory.”
The Under Armor job was always going to be a game-changer, and Linnartz went into it with his eyes wide open. “I believe in taking risks,” she told me last summer when I introduced her to Luck.
“She hit the ground running, launching a clearly articulated three-year strategy that prepares us for strategic growth,” Plank said. Luck, in an email comment at the time. “I’m thrilled to have her at Under Armor and to work with her every day.”
But the problems Linnartz faced were serious: Under Armor had struggled to increase revenue or profits since its heyday. Its share price has fallen sharply since its 2015 peak, and retail experts call its brand confusing at best.
Meanwhile, Planck’s politics and personal life continue to put his company in a sometimes unflattering position. headers. And Plank remained an inescapable presence at the company even after he stepped down as CEO, as I discovered when I visited the company’s headquarters in August, where I was repeatedly regaled with the story of how Plank started the company in his grandmother’s basement. in 1996:
“The buildings and clothing lines are numbered either 96 (for the year he founded Under Armor) or 37 (for KP’s jersey number),” I wrote at the time. “One hallway at the headquarters is decorated with a huge photo of this T-shirt, next to blown-up versions of Plank’s early Under Armor business cards, next to #inspo phrases like “HUMBLE AND HUNGRY BEGINS.”
Patrick T. Fallon – Bloomberg via Getty Images
The visible, ongoing presence of a charismatic founder can be a challenge for a new CEO, says Neil Saunders, an analyst at GlobalData Retail who covers Under Armour. “Even though someone else is the CEO, Kevin Plank is still here,” he says. “This is still a founder-led company… and most executives don’t want drivers in the backseat.”
Although Linnartz has hired several new senior executives and launched a rewards program to boost customer loyalty, her strategy has not yielded immediate results: Under Armour’s latest quarterly earnings fell by 6 percent a year earlier.
“She inherited a brand that had always had a lot of problems,” says Saunders. “And a year really isn’t enough time to make a difference.”
Investors initially welcomed Planck’s return, with the company’s shares rising in after-hours trading. before sliding back down. Under Armor also announced that when Plank becomes CEO, Mohamed A. El-Erian, former CEO of PIMCO, will become non-executive chairman of the board.
“Looking back on my last year at Under Armor, I am most proud of the outstanding talent we brought to the organization,” Linnartz wrote by email Under Armor employees. She added that she wishes Plank, “the senior management team and all of you much success in the years ahead.”