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Adidas

This article is about the company. For other uses, see Adidas (disambiguation).

Adidas AG
FormerlyGebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (1924–1949)
Company typePublic (AG)
FWB: ADS
DAX component
IndustryTextile, footwear
FoundedJuly 1924 (1924-07) in Herzogenaurach, Germany (as Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik)
18 August 1949 (1949-08-18) (as Adidas)[1]
FounderAdolf Dassler
Headquarters
Herzogenaurach, Bavaria
,
Germany
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
ProductsApparel, footwear, sportswear, sports equipment, toiletries
RevenueIncrease €21.915 billion (2018)[3]
Increase €2.368 billion (2018)[3]
Increase €1.702 billion (2018)[3]
Total assetsIncrease €15.612 billion (2018)[3]
Total equityIncrease €6.364 billion (2018)[3]
Number of employees
57,016 (2018)[3]
Subsidiaries
Websiteadidas.com

Adidas AG (German pronunciation: [ˈʔadiˌdas] ⓘ; stylized in all lowercase since 1949)[4] is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the world, after Nike.[5][6] It is the holding company for the Adidas Group, which also owns an 8.33% stake of the football club Bayern München,[7] and Runtastic, an Austrian fitness technology company. Adidas's revenue for 2018 was listed at €21.915 billion.[3]

The company was started by Adolf Dassler in his mother's house. He was joined by his elder brother Rudolf in 1924 under the name Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik ("Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory"). Dassler assisted in the development of spiked running shoes (spikes) for multiple athletic events. To enhance the quality of spiked athletic footwear, he transitioned from a previous model of heavy metal spikes to utilising canvas and rubber. Dassler persuaded U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use his handmade spikes at the 1936 Summer Olympics. In 1949, following a breakdown in the relationship between the brothers, Adolf created Adidas and Rudolf established Puma, which became Adidas's business rival.[1]

The three stripes are Adidas's identity mark, having been used on the company's clothing and shoe designs as a marketing aid. The branding, which Adidas bought in 1952 from Finnish sports company Karhu Sports for the equivalent of €1,600 and two bottles of whiskey,[8][9] became so successful that Dassler described Adidas as "The three stripes company".[8][9]

  1. ^ a b "History". Adidas Group. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  2. ^ "Supervisory Board". Adidas Group. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Adidas Annual Report 2018" (PDF). Adidas Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  4. ^ "The History of Adidas". On This Day In Fashion. Archived from the original on 17 March 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Adidas, Deutsche Telekom, Infineon: German Equity Preview". Bloomberg L.P. 16 January 2008. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  6. ^ "Ranking of the largest sporting goods manufacturers worldwide in 2009, based on revenue". Statista.com.
  7. ^ "Allianz steigt nach Adidas und Audi beim FC Bayern München ein". Autohaus.de (in German). 13 February 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  8. ^ a b Smit, Barbara (2007). Pitch Invasion, Adidas, Puma and the making of modern sport. Penguin. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-14-102368-7.
  9. ^ a b Chadwick, Simon & Arthur, Dave (2007). International Cases in the Business of Sport. Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 438. ISBN 978-0-7506-8543-6.