Yahoo Finance Under Armour’s Kevin Plank Received a 55% Bump in Compensation in Returning to the Role of CEO
Kevin Plank, who returned to the chief executive officer positions at Under Armour this spring, received $4.6 million in total compensation for fiscal 2024, up from the $3 million he received in fiscal 2023 when he was executive chairman and brand chief, according to the company’s just-released proxy statement.
His package includes a $500,000 salary, $4 million in stock awards as well as $127,220 in non-equity incentive plan compensation. The ultimate value of the stock awards will be determined by how the company’s shares perform under his leadership.
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As reported, on April 1, Plank took over the top post at Under Armour from Stephanie Linnartz, the former Marriott International president who had served as CEO for just over a year. Linnartz, who joined Under Armour in February of 2023, remained with the company as an adviser through April 30.
She was also highly compensated for her time at the sports company. According to the proxy, Linnartz’s separation agreement included a payment of $2.6 million, or two times her annual base salary, a $976,447 performance bonus, payment of her health care benefits for 24 months and other, smaller agreements. In addition, the proxy said, the unvested tranches of her sign-on restricted stock unit award received in connection with her hiring and valued at approximately $7.3 million, were accelerated.
Plank founded Under Armour in 1996 and served as its CEO and chairman of the board until January 2020, when he was appointed executive chair and brand chief. At the time, the company was faltering both in terms of sales as well as with scandals ranging from strip-club visits by male executives to Securities and Exchange Commission investigations.
Plank was succeeded by Patrik Frisk, a one-time CEO of the Aldo Group, in 2020. But Frisk’s tenure was also short, lasting only two years. Linnartz was named to succeed Frisk at the end of 2022 and assumed the role in February 2023.
In May, in his first earnings call since returning to the CEO post, Plank outlined a major restructuring plan that will include an unspecified number of layoffs, a 25 percent reduction in product, a renewed focus on its historic strength in menswear, substantially less discounting and a new communication strategy to get the message out to consumers.
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