Sir George W. Buckley, the former CEO of 3M, is joining the Munich-based sports technology company eGym as its chairman.
eGym’s co-founder and CEO Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer described Buckley as “the ideal candidate for the job. We were looking for an experienced corporate leader who is very familiar with fast-growing companies and who could help guide us as we grow the company towards market leadership and possibly an IPO in a few years. George has a stellar track record as the long-time CEO of 3M Corporation, as well as a clear understanding of fitness technology and the importance of corporate fitness.”
Sir George said: “With its unique products, eGym has a great opportunity to change the way people around the world perceive health. Philipp and his team have already done a great job and we can look forward to several additional new and exciting products that will change the lives of many people. eGym is an extremely fast-growing company and its innovative power will ultimately benefit our entire society.”
Founded in 2010 in Munich, eGym has rapidly grown into a technology leader over the last eight years. eGym uses a combination of connected gym equipment and cloud-based software to provide a fully data- and software-driven gym experience.
eGym’s products include next-generation connected training equipment, cloud-based software and corporate health subscriptions, connecting gyms, consumers, employees and their employers to their health and fitness data. Its training solutions are used in nearly 10,000 fitness and health facilities across Europe and the United States. The company’s corporate health subscriptions allow employers to offer their employees access to health and fitness resources by partnering with gyms and other health and fitness providers. The technology allows partners to integrate directly through the eGym One Cloud software.
Buckley is one of the world’s most successful global CEOs, most famously having steered U.S. conglomerate 3M for seven years from 2005 to 2012. During that time, he increased the market value of the company behind Post-it notes and Scotch tape from $60 billion to $150 billion. Before that he was CEO of Brunswick Corporation, the parent company of Life Fitness, the world’s biggest gym equipment maker, which has given him a long history and knowledge of working in the health and fitness sector.
Currently Sir George is chairman of the $13 billion revenue Stanley Black & Decker business, chairman of the UK engineering company Smiths Group and a board member of PepsiCo and Hitachi Ltd. He is also a member of Schillings Advisory Board, the UK-based international reputation and privacy consultancy.
Sir George will join existing board members Tom Proulx, co-founder of software company Intuit, Irena Goldenberg, of Highland Capital Europe and Manfred Krikke, of HPE Growth Capital, as well as co-founders Philipp Roesch Schlanderer and Florian Sauter on the board of eGym.
