Biography|Arne Freundt — The November Day This Campus Made Him CEO

The succession looked planned on 4 November 2022.

It became immediate four days later.

On 4 November, Puma's supervisory board named Arne Freundt chief executive and chairman of the management board, with a four-year contract from 1 January 2023.

Bjørn Gulden's board mandate was due to expire at the end of that year.

On 8 November the same board brought the change forward.

Gulden was leaving for Adidas.

Freundt, then 42 and already chief commercial officer, took the chair on this campus that same day.

The announcement went out from Herzogenaurach, PUMA Way 1.

He had been inside the firm since July 2011.

The Nürnberger Zeitung had called him a kind of business phantom: present, promoted, almost unseen.

Süddeutsche Zeitung picked up the line when it tried to introduce the new chief to readers who knew only Gulden's name.

The tenure lasted until April 2025.

Puma said he was leaving after fourteen years because of differing views on strategy execution.

Arthur Hoeld, formerly of Adidas, was named as successor.

The Financial Times recorded that the share price had roughly halved during Freundt's stretch at the top.

That is the public ledger of the job that started on this campus in November 2022.

The building is still the headquarters.

The occupant of the chair is not.

Photo: Sunflower246246, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons