Adidas AG has appointed Uli Becker as president and CEO of the Reebok brand. Becker, currently chief marketing officer of Reebok, will succeed Paul Harrington, effective April 1st, when Harrington takes over as CEO at Easton-Bell Sports.


At adidas, Uli Becker will report to Herbert Hainer, CEO and chairman of adidas AG's executive board.

 

Harrington spent almost 12 years at Reebok, including more than two as president and CEO. As part of his appointment, Easton-Bell Board Member Timothy Mayhew will immediately assume the role of Interim CEO.  Mayhew is managing director of Fenway Partners, the majority shareholder of Easton-Bell.

 

Anthony Palma, former Easton-Bell CEO, has departed the company to pursue other opportunities.

 

“We are very pleased that Paul Harrington is joining the company as president and CEO,” said Jim Easton, chairman of the board of Easton-Bell. “His leadership and experience at Reebok will be valuable in the continuation of the company’s growth and development of high-performance sports equipment.” 

 

He continued, “On behalf of the Easton-Bell Sports Board of Directors, I also want to thank Tony Palma for his contributions to Easton-Bell and wish him the very best in his future endeavors.  Prior to his two years as CEO of Easton-Bell, Tony was CEO of Easton Sports, where he led that company to outstanding growth, success and innovative product development. For that I am sincerely grateful.” 

 

Harrington, 46, is a sporting goods industry veteran. He served as president and CEO of Reebok since January 2006 and was responsible for the Reebok brand’s business worldwide.  Harrington has had experience in almost all areas of the business including finance, sales and marketing, and operations.  Prior to becoming president and CEO of Reebok, he oversaw Reebok’s global retail division including sales and marketing for the North America, Europe and Asia Pacific regions.  Harrington also served as Reebok’s senior vice president of international operations, and chief supply chain officer.  He joined Reebok in 1994 as director of strategic planning.

 

Harrington’s career also includes senior-level positions at Levi Strauss and Ford Motor Company.  He holds a bachelor’s degree from Clark University in Worcester, Mass., and a master’s degree in business administration from Babson College in Wellesley, Mass.

 

Mr. Mayhew commented, “Easton-Bell is an extraordinary company with a tremendous portfolio of brands.  Easton®, Bell®, Riddell® and Giro® are brand names that athletes at all levels of play can depend on to deliver premium performance and athletic protection.  We are fortunate to have identified Paul as our next CEO and believe his leadership skills and experience with a world-class sporting goods company make him perfectly suited to lead Easton-Bell into its next phase of growth.”

 

On the adidas side of the moves, chairman and CEO Herbert Hainer thanked Harrington to his service for the Reebok brand over the past dozen years.s

 

“We would like to thank Paul Harrington for his leadership and the many contributions he has made to the success of Reebok over the last twelve years. He played an instrumental role in managing the integration of Reebok into our Group and laid the foundations for the repositioning of the Reebok brand world-wide. We wish him all the best for his future”, said Hainer. “Uli Becker’s proven leadership and global marketing expertise make him uniquely qualified to take the revitalisation of the Reebok brand to the next level, both internationally and in the US.”

Uli Becker is chief marketing officer of the Reebok brand since May 2006. In this position, he oversees the Reebok Global Marketing Group, which includes product, sport and entertainment marketing. Prior to this role, Uli Becker was head of Global Brand Marketing of the adidas brand and managing director of adidas International B.V. in Amsterdam from 2002 to 2006. Under his leadership, adidas became one of the most awarded brands in the creative world including being named “Advertiser of the Year” by the prestigious Cannes Festival in 2006. Uli began his career at adidas in 1990. He then held subsequently various marketing, product and business development roles.