Under Armour: Business Bros

Corporate gossip

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Under Armour is what happens when a group of perpetually rowdy frat bros is at the helm of a multi-billion dollar company. Starting with a single sewing machine in his grandma's basement, Ken Plank grew the UA brand to market dominance over two decades, and then oversaw its demise over two years. This story has it all: A+ list athletes, strip club scandals, Twitter PR disasters, adulterous adventures on a private jet, and Becca's favorite: light accounting fraud!

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Tiktok: @corporategossippod

Hosts: Becca Platsky ([e-mail]) Adam Platsky ([e-mail])

Produced by: Michael Albanese @bigmanmike

Vignette written by: Becky Nanns Beckysaysitall.com

Timestamps:

06:16 - Kevin Plank creates the first moisture-wicking athletic T-shirt and founds Under Armour from his Grandma's basement. The company, with the help of lucrative movie cameos and athletic partnerships, is valued at $157m by 2005 and grows to $17B 10 years later.

15:34 - Under Armour produces a series of uggo shoes that are blasted on Twitter.

20:02 - As Plank becomes increasingly distracted with his side hustles, UA sales slump. The UA team employ a series of questionable accounting practices to hide the truth, and their actions result in a $9m class-action shareholder lawsuit.

27:00 - HR revokes one of the c-suite's favorite perks: free strip clubs. After that, it's one buzzkill after another for UA executives.

35:00 - Turns out the culture at the top of Under Armour wasn't exactly... conducive to not being a huge dirtbag.

43:15 - Has your boss ever brought his paramour - sorry - "strategic advisor" to a business meeting? If so, you might be working for Ken Plank!!

49:00 - Where does UA stand today?

Links:

Steph Curry's new Under Armour sneakers lit Twitter on fire with Dad jokes, memes

Under Pressure at Under Armour, CEO Says His Eye Is on the Ball

Under Armour founder sold $138 million in stock during time period company allegedly misled investors about slowing sales

Under Armour’s #MeToo Moment: No More Strip Clubs on Company Dime

Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank 'was allegedly having an affair with MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle and sought her advice over that of his board while flying her around on private jet'