Athletic apparel retailer, Under Armour, has made a series of executive moves this week as part of an ongoing restructuring of its digital business.
The sporting retailer has named former Yahoo! executive Michael La Guardia as its new head of digital product development, the senior vice president of digital product, and will start with the new position on January 8. La Guardia will be based in San Francisco.
The company announced at the same time the departure of the co-founders of MyFitnessPal, which Under Armour acquired in 2015. Mike Lee and Albert Lee will leave the company in January to pursue their next entrepreneurial ventures.
La Guardia was most recently the head of product for both Yahoo! Finance and Sports. Before that, he worked with AOL/Netscape in increasing positions of responsibility. At Under Armour, La Guardia will be responsible for leading the strategy for all digital product development.
“As part of the restructuring we initiated this summer that integrates technology across our core business—connected fitness digital product, digital engineering and digital media—will now all report directly to me,” said Paul Fipps, chief technology officer. “This integration significantly enhances our ability to engage consumers with elevated experiences, premium products and personalised services.”
Under Armour has also announced that David Bergman has been named chief financial officer. He has served as acting CFO since February 2017. Bergman joined Under Armour in 2004 and has held several senior management roles within the company’s finance and accounting organisation.
“David Bergman brings strong financial expertise, leadership and a deep understanding of the Under Armour brand to this role,” said Under Armour chairman and CEO Kevin Plank.
“In his 13-year career at UA, he has a proven track record of developing and leading our global finance organisation through significant milestones including our initial public offering, helping to create our international business, and through our restructuring efforts this year – driving consistently higher standards of return-oriented, financial discipline.”
It was a rough third quarter for the athletic brand, with sales droppingby 12.1 per cent in North America, part of a worldwide trend to hit the once powerhouse brand of sports retail.
