Nike announces leadership shuffle under new CEO

Nike announces leadership shuffle under new CEO

Nike, with a new CEO at the helm, announced leadership changes Tuesday that include a new chief operating officer and chief financial officer.

Andy Campion, the current executive vice president and CFO, will replace Eric Sprunk as COO, effective April 1, the company said in a statement, adding that Sprunk will depart Nike.

The company said Matthew Friend, its current CFO of operating segments and vice president of investor relations, will become its new CFO.

Nike stock rose less than 1% after hours on the news. Nike has a market value of nearly $159 billion, and its stock has gained more than 19% over the past year.

In October, Nike announced John Donahoe, a Nike board member and former CEO of eBay, would replace its longtime CEO Mark Parker, effective Jan. 13. Parker, who was named executive chairman, said at the time of the announcement that he would be “partnering closely with John and the management team.”

As part of the announcements Tuesday, Heidi O’Neill, president of Nike Direct, will become president of consumer and marketplace on April 1. She succeeds Elliott Hill, who will leave Nike, the company said. Nike did not say when Hill and Sprunk will depart the company.

“Heidi and Andy’s leadership has been instrumental in both evolving and driving Nike’s strategy over the last decade,” John Donahoe, president and CEO of Nike said, in a press release. “In their new roles, we will see them have even greater impact on Nike’s success in the future. Matthew brings more than 10 years of Nike experience to the CFO role and will be a great addition to our executive leadership team.”

The leadership changes come as Nike faces mounting scrutiny over allegations of doping as well as gender discrimination. In October, Parker said an interview with CNBC’s Wilfred Frost that Donahoe should “enable this next level of growth,” digitally, for the company.

He also said the decision was not prompted by doping allegations connected to Nike’s Oregon Project, the elite training group run by Nike’s head running coach Alberto Salazar.

At the end of September, Salazar was banned amid doping allegations, which reportedly included ties back to Parker himself. The New York Times reviewed emails from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that showed Parker had been briefed on Salazar’s various experiments to use testosterone cream for track-and-field athletes.

In an email to employees at the time, Parker said: “Nike did not participate in any effort to systematically dope any runners ever; the very idea makes me sick.” He also said Nike looked into the allegations against Salazar and found no violations.

In 2018, Nike President Trevor Edwards, who many saw as Parker’s likely successor, retired after complaints surfaced at the company in March 2018, when a group of women presented Parker with a survey on gender discrimination. Edwards was blamed in the lawsuit for creating and exacerbating a “hostile work environment.” Parker responded by restructuring his leadership team, which included ousting Edwards.

Nike in 2018 admitted it failed in hiring and promoting women, and the company ousted at least 11 executives and announced raises for 7,000 employees after conducting an internal review of its pay practices. Parker apologized to employees at large in May.

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