Adidas AG pays the former CEO Kasper Rorsted around 16 million euros as part of a termination agreement. Rorsted was removed from the sporting goods manufacturer last August after months of turbulence.
The payment consists of a severance payment of 12 million euros, compensation of 3.6 million euros for a non-competition clause in the next 18 months and a further 300,000 euros for the period from November 12 to December 31 of last year, it is said in Adidas’ annual report released on Wednesday.
Rorsted had agreed to step down as CEO four years before his contract expires in 2026. That ended an eventful six-year tenure, whose early successes were overshadowed by repeated profit warnings, a boycott by Chinese customers and a crisis following the end of the partnership with rapper Ye (Kanye West).
Rorsted’s compensation announcement coincided on Wednesday with Adidas’ announcement that it would cut its dividend by 79 percent and potentially post a loss for the first time in more than three decades.
According to CFO Harm Ohlmeyer, Adidas adhered to German corporate governance guidelines when determining the severance payment. “It is what it is,” said Ohlmeyer. “We look ahead, not back.”
