adidas AG

What does adidas own?
adidas owns the adidas brand, which encompasses performance athletic products (running, football, training, basketball), lifestyle products (Originals, Sportswear), and specialty lines including Y-3 and Five Ten. The company sold Reebok to Authentic Brands Group in 2022. The adidas brand portfolio includes iconic footwear models such as the Superstar, Stan Smith, Gazelle, Ultraboost, and NMD.

Is adidas publicly traded?
Yes, adidas AG is publicly traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ADS. The company is a component of the DAX index, Germany's primary blue-chip stock market index. adidas has been publicly traded since 1989.

Who founded adidas?
adidas was founded by Adolf "Adi" Dassler on August 18, 1949, in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. Dassler had previously operated a shoe business with his brother Rudolf, who left to found Puma. Adolf Dassler named the company by combining his nickname "Adi" with the first three letters of his surname.

Where is adidas headquartered?
adidas is headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany, where the company was founded in 1949. The company's global headquarters campus, known as the World of Sports, is located in Herzogenaurach and houses the company's executive leadership, design studios, and corporate functions.

How many brands does adidas own?
adidas operates primarily under the adidas master brand, with sub-brands including adidas Originals, adidas Sportswear, adidas Performance, Y-3, and Five Ten. The company sold Reebok in 2022 and no longer owns that brand.

Who owns adidas?
adidas is publicly owned with no controlling shareholder. Institutional investors collectively hold the majority of outstanding shares, with BlackRock, Vanguard, and various European investment funds among the largest holders. No individual, family, or private equity firm holds a controlling interest.

What is adidas's revenue?
adidas reported preliminary full-year 2025 revenues of approximately EUR 24.81 billion, up from EUR 23.68 billion in 2024. Operating profit was approximately EUR 2.05 billion, with an operating margin of 8.3%. The company plans to release detailed results and 2026 guidance in early March 2026.

What happened with the Yeezy partnership?
adidas terminated its partnership with Ye (formerly Kanye West) in October 2022 following his antisemitic public statements. The Yeezy collaboration had generated approximately EUR 1.5 billion in annual revenue. The termination left adidas with approximately EUR 1.2 billion in unsold inventory, which the company sold in multiple tranches through 2024, donating a portion of proceeds to anti-discrimination organizations.

The origins of adidas trace to a family shoe business established in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, in the early 1920s. Adolf Dassler and his brother Rudolf Dassler began making athletic shoes together in 1924 under the name Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik. The brothers supplied shoes to German athletes at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where American sprinter Jesse Owens won four gold medals wearing their footwear, providing significant international visibility for the brand.

The partnership between the brothers deteriorated during and after World War II, culminating in a permanent split in 1948. Rudolf Dassler left to found a competing company that would become Puma, while Adolf Dassler registered adidas on August 18, 1949, combining his nickname "Adi" with the first three letters of his surname. The two companies established their headquarters on opposite sides of the Aurach river in Herzogenaurach, creating a rivalry that divided the town for decades.

adidas achieved its first major international breakthrough in 1954, when the West German national football team wore adidas boots with removable screw-in studs to defeat Hungary 3-2 in the FIFA World Cup final in Bern, Switzerland. The victory, known in Germany as the Miracle of Bern, was widely attributed in part to the traction advantage provided by the adidas studs on a wet pitch. The event established adidas as the dominant supplier of football footwear and launched the company's long association with the sport.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, adidas expanded its product range and global distribution, introducing iconic models including the Stan Smith tennis shoe in 1965 and the Superstar basketball shoe in 1969. The company became the official supplier of footwear and equipment to multiple Olympic Games and FIFA World Cups, cementing its position as the reference brand in competitive athletics.

Adolf Dassler died in 1978 and was succeeded by his son Horst Dassler, who expanded the company's marketing and sponsorship activities significantly. Horst Dassler died in 1987, and the company subsequently faced financial difficulties and management instability. In 1989, the Dassler family sold adidas to French businessman Bernard Tapie, and the company went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Robert Louis-Dreyfus acquired adidas in 1993 and initiated a turnaround that repositioned the brand as a premium athletic and lifestyle company. The company's partnership with designer Yohji Yamamoto, which produced the Y-3 line in 2002, was an early signal of adidas's intention to compete in the fashion and lifestyle market alongside its athletic heritage.

In 2005, adidas acquired Reebok for approximately $3.8 billion, intending to strengthen its position in the North American market and compete more effectively with Nike. The Reebok acquisition did not achieve its intended strategic objectives, and in 2022 adidas sold Reebok to Authentic Brands Group for approximately EUR 2.1 billion.

A significant disruption came in October 2022, when adidas terminated its partnership with rapper and designer Ye (formerly Kanye West) following antisemitic public statements. The Yeezy collaboration had been one of the most commercially successful in the company's history, generating approximately EUR 1.5 billion in annual revenue. The termination left adidas with approximately EUR 1.2 billion in unsold Yeezy inventory. The company subsequently sold the inventory in multiple tranches through 2024, donating a portion of proceeds to anti-discrimination organizations. The final Yeezy inventory was sold by the end of 2024.

Bjorn Gulden became CEO of adidas in January 2023, succeeding Kasper Rorsted. Gulden, who had previously led Puma, initiated a strategic reset focused on rebuilding brand momentum, improving product quality, and restoring profitability. Under his leadership, adidas achieved currency-neutral revenue growth of 13% in both 2024 and 2025, with operating margins improving from 5.6% in 2024 to 8.3% in 2025.

For full year 2025, adidas reported preliminary revenues of approximately EUR 24.81 billion and operating profit of EUR 2.05 billion. The company announced a EUR 1 billion share buyback program to begin in February 2026, citing strong brand momentum, a solid balance sheet, and robust cash flow generation.

adidas has made sustainability a central pillar of its corporate strategy, articulated through its "2025 sustainability targets" and the successor framework being developed as part of the company's long-term planning. The company's most publicised sustainability commitment is the transition to recycled polyester across its product range, a target it largely achieved by 2024. Recycled polyester accounted for approximately 96% of polyester used in adidas products in 2024, replacing virgin polyester across running, training, and lifestyle collections.

The Parley for the Oceans partnership, established in 2015, transforms intercepted marine plastic waste into yarn used in adidas footwear uppers and apparel. Over 40 million pairs of shoes made with Parley Ocean Plastic have been produced since the collaboration began. The Parley line has become one of the most recognisable sustainability-positioned product ranges in the sportswear industry, spanning footwear, apparel, and accessories.

adidas is a signatory to the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and is a member of the Better Cotton Initiative, which promotes more sustainable cotton farming practices in its supply chain. The company publishes a full supplier list and subjects its top-tier suppliers to regular social and environmental audits through its Social and Environmental Affairs team.

In 2025, adidas published its first product-level carbon footprint data, allowing consumers to compare the lifecycle carbon impact of individual footwear models. This transparency initiative placed adidas ahead of most sportswear peers in product-level climate disclosure.

On labour practices, adidas is a member of the Fair Labor Association (FLA) and publishes the results of factory audits. The company has faced criticism from independent organisations including the Worker Rights Consortium and the Clean Clothes Campaign regarding working conditions at contract manufacturing facilities, particularly in Asia. adidas has responded by strengthening grievance mechanisms and expanding living wage commitments in its core supplier base.

adidas has received independent recognition for brand strength, sustainability performance, and workplace quality.

• Interbrand Best Global Brands (2025): adidas ranked among the top 50 most valuable global brands, with an estimated brand value of approximately $13.5 billion, reflecting the sustained strength of the adidas name across athletic and lifestyle markets.
• Forbes World's Best Employers (2025): adidas was recognised by Forbes in its annual employer rankings, reflecting the company's global workplace culture and employee development programmes across its 59,000-person workforce.
• MSCI ESG Rating: adidas holds an AA MSCI ESG rating, placing it in the leader tier for sustainability performance among global sportswear companies.
• Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI): adidas has been included in the DJSI for multiple consecutive years, assessed by S&P Global for corporate sustainability performance among the world's largest listed companies.
• CDP Climate Rating (2024): adidas received a B rating from CDP for climate change disclosure, reflecting above-average performance among consumer goods companies in transparency and emissions reporting.
• Euronext Paris Sustainability Rankings: adidas was recognised as a leading European company for supply chain sustainability disclosure by third-party ESG analysts covering DAX-listed companies.

adidas regularly receives recognition for its brand strength, employer practices, and sustainability initiatives:

• Interbrand Best Global Brands: adidas consistently ranks among the most valuable global brands in Interbrand's annual assessment.
• Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI): The company is regularly included in the DJSI, reflecting its ESG performance relative to industry peers.
• Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations: Corporate Knights has frequently recognized adidas in its annual Global 100 index.
• World's Best Employers: Forbes and Statista have recognized adidas among the top global employers, citing employee satisfaction and corporate culture.

The most significant controversy in adidas's recent history was the termination of the Yeezy partnership with Ye in October 2022 following his antisemitic public statements. The partnership had been one of the most commercially successful celebrity collaborations in the sportswear industry, generating an estimated EUR 1.5 billion in annual revenue. The termination left adidas with approximately EUR 1.2 billion in unsold inventory and resulted in a significant earnings impact in 2022 and 2023. The company's handling of the situation, including the delay between Ye's public statements and the termination decision, drew criticism from some shareholders and advocacy groups.

adidas has faced criticism related to labor practices in its supply chain, particularly regarding working conditions in factories in Asia. The company publishes an annual sustainability report and has adopted supplier codes of conduct, though independent monitoring organizations have periodically identified compliance gaps.

The company has also faced scrutiny regarding its use of the three-stripe trademark, which adidas has aggressively defended in courts across multiple jurisdictions. Several trademark disputes have resulted in rulings against adidas, including a 2019 European Union Intellectual Property Office ruling that found the three-stripe mark lacked distinctiveness in certain applications.