When Arne Freundt was appointed head of the sporting goods company Puma at the beginning of November, it almost went under. The surprise at the departure of incumbent Björn Gulden was too great, his direct move to rival Adidas, which was three times as big, was too spectacular. The fact that Freundt followed him to the top of the world’s third-largest sporting goods company after Nike and Adidas was a minor matter. Maybe he wasn’t so wrong after all. In his managerial career to date, Arne Freundt has not given the impression that he is being pushed onto the public stage. “A kind of business phantom” they called him Nuremberg newspaper.
Who is Freundt, who now leads a group with sales of more than seven billion euros and around 15,000 employees?
It can be considered certain that Arne Freundt, 42, did not live through the “shock state” that came over Puma after Gulden’s abrupt departure. He and the Norwegian have been too close for years, and it has long been obvious to insiders that Gulden Freundt is building up his successor. For whenever. Hard to imagine that the mentor left his pupil in the dark about his change plans.
This is also indicated by the smooth transition. Along with Gulden’s departure after nine years, the Puma supervisory board announced Freundt’s promotion. He is “a recognized leader of the company”, even has “the Puma family in his heart” and is therefore “the designated candidate and the ideal choice to continue Puma’s very successful path and to further accelerate the momentum of the company”. explained Héloïse Temple-Boyer, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of Puma SE. Freundt took over the office in place of the exempt guilder with immediate effect; his actual contract as CEO has been running since January 1st.
The newcomer at the top is always “up to the ball,” they say
“Arne is a good guy to deal with, also a good strategist, analytical and assertive, quick and clear in his decisions,” says one who has worked with Freundt for a long time. A northerner who completed his studies at the private EBS University for Economics and Law in Oestrich-Winkel, Hesse. Freundt then joined Siemens Management Consulting in Munich as a project manager. From there he moved to Herzogenaurach in 2011 to succeed Franz Koch, who had been promoted to CEO, as Puma’s chief strategy officer.
When Koch resigned his post after less than two years and Gulden came, Freundt remained in office until 2015. He then oversaw the retail business and e-commerce, becoming responsible for Europe, Middle East and Africa in 2019 before being appointed to the Group Executive Board in June 2021. “He warmed up in all these positions, gained a lot of experience on different pitches, was on the ball everywhere and will therefore not need any warm-up time as CEO,” believes a veteran Puma.
Morocco was the surprise team at the World Cup – and played in Puma jerseys (in red).
(Photo: PAUL ELLIS/AFP)
There are astonishing parallels to Franz Koch that can be seen in all of this. As head of strategy, he too had worked on concepts for the future before making the leap to the top. And yet there are two main differences: Koch took over Puma at a time when the brand with the big cat logo was weakening. His supervisor was Jochen Zeitz, of all people, under whom Puma slipped into crisis after years of success. Whatever Koch corrected – he corrected old master Zeitz, who still haunted the Puma world as his superior. An ungrateful constellation. Arne Freundt, on the other hand, started from a different starting position. His predecessor has left the company and is not the chief arbiter; So Freundt doesn’t have to be careful. And the biggest difference: Puma looks great.
On the one hand, this makes it easier for Freundt to get started; there are currently no major construction sites in the company that he would have to take care of. The friendly words that Björn Gulden shouted after him in farewell are also a burden. “Arne worked directly with me for nine years, helped set up the strategy and made important decisions and made a major contribution to Puma’s success,” says Gulden. “He knows my strengths and weaknesses and I’m sure he’ll do an even better job than me.” That sounds nice, but it also means that Arne Freundt will be measured against Gulden’s successes from day one. In nine years, he had more than doubled Puma’s sales, regained the brand’s lost relevance in sports and at the same time sparked a “we” feeling among employees, prominent testimonials and Puma brand fans. The expectations are enormous. Arne Freundt is still silent on all of this. He only wants to comment at the balance sheet press conference on March 1st. It’s the day he finally has to step out of the shadows.