Meet the CEO who gave 60,000 employees his cellphone number

Bjørn Gulden with All Blacks Beauden, Jordie and Scott Barrett. Adidas is a major partner of NZ Rugby. (Image: Instagram)

The Wall Street Journal

Sun, 21 Jan 2024

By Trefor MossA former professional football player, Bjørn Gulden says that when he took over Adidas just over a year ago, it felt as if the German sports giant was losing by four goals at halftime.Morale was down after the collapse of its Yeezy collaboration with rapper Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, and employees complained about a lack of transparency.In response, during his first "town hall" meeting, Gulden volunteered sensitive information including financial data and even gave out his cellphone number to all 60,000 emplo...

Subscribe to BusinessDesk

Stay informed on business, government and financial developments across New Zealand.

Stay informed on business, government and financial developments across New Zealand.
Deeply researched, twice-edited and fact-checked news
Annual subscribers also receive a complimentary subscription to The Wall Street Journal
Personalised email news alerts, plus gift up to 5 stories a month to non-subscribers

You can cancel anytime with two clicks, an email or a phone call.
Find out more.

We are serious about journalism.

Name {{ registerForm.errors.get('name') }}

Email address {{ registerForm.errors.get('email') }}

Phone Number {{ registerForm.errors.get('phone') }}

Job Title {{ registerForm.errors.get('title') }}

Password Minimum password length of 8 characters.
Require at least one upper and lowercase, numeric, and special character. {{ registerForm.errors.get('password') }}

Repeat password {{ registerForm.errors.get('password_confirmation') }}

We had trouble validating your card. It's possible your card provider is preventing us from charging the card. Please contact your card provider or customer support.

Credit Card

Cardholder's name

{{ __(plans[index].interval) | capitalize }} {{ plans[index].attributes.old_price | currency }} {{ plans[index].price | currency }}

All subscriptions auto renew but are easy to cancel.

I Accept The Terms Of Service

{{ registerForm.errors.get('terms') }}

Tax: {{ taxAmount(selectedPlan) | currency }}

Total Price Including Tax: {{ priceWithTax(selectedPlan) | currency }} {{ selectedPlan.type == 'user' && spark.chargesUsersPerSeat ? '/ '+ spark.seatName : '' }} {{ selectedPlan.type == 'user' && spark.chargesUsersPerTeam ? '/ '+ __('teams.team') : '' }} / {{ __(selectedPlan.interval) | capitalize }}