After a year of growth in North America during the past two years, Adidas is shuffling its leadership in the region. Mark King, who has served as the president of Adidas North America since 2014, is passing the torch to Zion Armstrong, GM of Adidas North America, effective July 1.
“This is a well-prepared, seamless transition. We are very excited to promote Zion Armstrong to one of the most important roles in our company. He has been instrumental to our success over the last three years, co-leading adidas North America together with Mark King,” said Roland Auschel, head of global sales and member of the executive board. “We are convinced that Zion’s leadership will enable us to continue our successful journey in North America.”
He added, “On behalf of the entire company, I would like to congratulate Mark King on an outstanding career at Adidas and TaylorMade. Mark leaves our company on excellent terms and as a close friend.”
King spent 35 years at Adidas — where he began his career as a sales representative. From 2003 to 2014, he was CEO of TaylorMade — Adidas Golf, where he helped the division become the most profitable golf company in the world, according to the company.
In June 2014, King relocated to Portland, Ore., to serve as president of Adidas North America. Under his leadership, Adidas has experienced a major resurgence, posing a sales gain of 35 percent in 2017.
Armstrong joined Adidas New Zealand as a product manager for footwear in 1998 before moving to the company’s headquarters in Germany in 2002. From 2005 to 2014, he held various leadership roles in Asia-Pacific, including managing director for Adidas South Korea. Since 2015, he has served as GM of Adidas North America.
