Harm Ohlmeyer, who has served as chief financial officer at Adidas since May 2017, is stepping down from his role at the end of the year, the company said on Thursday.
Ohlmeyer has been with Adidas for almost three decades and started his tenure at the company in 1998, where he held roles across finance and sales, including the responsibility as CFO of TaylorMade-Adidas Golf and senior vice president of finance for Adidas brand and global sales.
From 2011, Ohlmeyer led the company’s e-commerce business as senior vice president of digital brand commerce. In 2017, Ohlmeyer was appointed to the executive board and subsequently became CFO. In July 2023, he was appointed as labor director and assumed additional responsibility for supply chain and tech in August 2024.
Adidas chief executive officer Bjørn Gulden said in a statement that the company has “a lot to thank” Ohlmeyer for over the years.
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“With 29 years with the company and ten years as the CFO he has been a huge contributor to the success of our company,” Gulden noted. “His many achievements include building-up our e-commerce business 15 years ago as well as the divestitures of TaylorMade and Reebok, which have allowed us to fully focus on the Adidas brand. Harm was an important partner for me when I took over in 2023 and will continue to be an advisor to me and the board.”
Nassef Sawiris, chairman of the supervisory board for Adidas, also thanked Ohlmeyer. “His strong financial expertise and broad operational experience have been crucial in steering our company through challenging periods and supporting the successful turnaround over the past years,” Sawiris said.
In his place, the supervisory board said Adidas alum Birgit Kretschmer will return to the company as CFO at the end of the year. In the meantime, Kretschmer will join the company’s executive board, effective Sept.1, following Ohlmeyer’s decision not to extend his executive board mandate beyond his current term.
Kretschmer rejoins the company from C&A, one of Europe’s leading fashion retailers, where she has served as CFO for the past six years.
But much of Kretschmer’s professional career — 25 years — was spent at Adidas in different leadership roles across the organization, including CFO of Adidas International BV, CFO of Western Europe, and senior vice president corporate and operations finance, which included overseeing the company’s accounting, treasury and M&A activities as well as operational controlling. Kretschmer was part of the finance leadership team since 2012 and a member of the company’s core leadership group between 2017 and 2020.
“I am extremely happy that we have signed Birgit to be the successor of Harm,” Gulden said. “Having worked 25 years with Adidas before and now six years as the CFO at C&A makes her the perfect CFO for the future. She knows the industry, she knows Adidas and she has added the knowledge of cost discipline working as the CFO of a vertical retailer like C&A. I really look forward welcoming her back on our team.”
Sawiris described Kretschmer as a “passionate leader” who knows Adidas, its business and the industry “extremely well.”
As of Jan. 1, 2027, Adidas noted that its executive board will consist of Bjørn Gulden, Birgit Kretschmer, Michelle Robertson and Mathieu Sidokpohou.
The news comes at the same time as the company notched up 14 percent sales growth in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, to bring in 6.74 billion euros. This marks Adidas’ highest quarterly net sales ever recorded and also beat market expectations, which were set at 6.63 billion euros.
