{"id":10053,"date":"2024-03-14T03:50:48","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T03:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=10053"},"modified":"2024-03-14T03:50:48","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T03:50:48","slug":"under-armour-founder-kevin-plank-is-back-as-ceo-abruptly-ending-stephanie-linnartzs-three-year-turnaround-plan-two-years-early","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=10053","title":{"rendered":"Under Armour founder Kevin Plank is back as CEO, abruptly ending Stephanie Linnartz\u2019s three-year turnaround plan two years early"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Stephanie Linnartz got even less time<\/a> than expected to fix Under Armour\u2019s many problems.<\/p>\n

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Linnartz, a veteran executive who was previously No. 2 at Marriott International<\/a>, left the global hotel chain last year to become CEO of Under Armour<\/a>. She took over the struggling sportswear chain on Feb. 27, 2023\u2014and, the company said today<\/a>, she will be leaving the CEO role at the end of this month, after just over a year on the job. She had said<\/a> that her turnaround strategy for the company would take three years to execute. <\/p>\n

Kevin Plank, Under Armour\u2019s controversial founder and controlling shareholder, will again become its CEO, starting April 1. The latest \u201cboomerang\u201d CEO to return to his former job (a group that includes Disney\u2019s Bob Iger and Howard Schultz of Starbucks) will become his company\u2019s fourth CEO in four years. He first \u201cstepped back\u201d<\/a> from the job in January 2020 to become executive chairman, and he continues to own 65% of the company\u2019s voting shares.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Under Armour did not give a reason for the abrupt CEO change, and a spokesperson declined to comment. In a LinkedIn post<\/a>, Plank thanked Linnartz for her contributions towards Under Armour: \u201cShe helped advance the company forward in many important ways, including elevating our leadership talent in product, design, supply chain, consumer loyalty, and regional management,\u201d he wrote. \u201cMuch work still needs to be done, but her leadership helped put us on the right track toward winning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Running Under Armour was always going to be a turnaround job\u2013which Linnartz went into with eyes wide open. \u201cI believe in taking calculated risks,\u201d she told me last summer, when I profiled her<\/a> for Fortune<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has hit the ground running, launching a clearly articulated three-year strategy that sets us up for strategic growth,\u201d Plank told Fortune<\/em>, in an emailed comment, at the time. \u201cI could not be more excited to have her at Under Armour and to work with her every day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the challenges Linnartz faced were steep: Under Armour had struggled to grow revenue or profits since its early heyday. Its share price has plummeted since its 2015 peak, and retail experts call its brand identity muddled, at best. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Plank\u2019s politics and personal life have continued to put his company into sometimes-unflattering headlines<\/a>.\u00a0And Plank had remained an unavoidable presence at the company well after his departure from the CEO role, as I saw when I visited the company\u2019s headquarters in August\u2014where I was regaled several times with the story of how Plank started the company in his grandmother\u2019s basement in 1996:<\/p>\n

\u201cBuildings and apparel lines are numbered either 96 (for the year he founded Under Armour) or 37 (for the number of KP\u2019s college football jersey),\u201d I wrote then<\/a>. \u201cOne corridor at headquarters is decorated with an enormous photo of that jersey, next to blown-up versions of Plank\u2019s early Under Armour business cards, next to #inspo phrases like \u2018HUMBLE & HUNGRY BEGINNINGS.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n