UNDER ARMOUR MAKES MANAGEMENT MOVES TO FOCUS ON ITS DIGITAL STRATEGY
Athletic brand Under Armour has announced management and reporting changes that continue to align its digital business against the company’s long-term growth objectives.
In several personnel changes made in the company on Monday, Under Armour has appointed David Bergman as its new chief financial officer. Bergman has served as acting CFO since February 2017. Bergman reports to Kevin Plank and has responsibility for accounting, finance, internal audit and insurance, investor relations, tax and treasury. Bergman joined Under Armour in 2004 and has held several senior management roles within the company’s finance and accounting organization, including corporate controller and most recently senior vice president of corporate finance.
Within the new digital product, engineering and media structure, the company also announced that Michael La Guardia will join as senior vice president of digital product. Reporting to chief technology officer Paul Fipps, La Guardia will have responsibility for leading the strategy for all digital product development working cross-functionally with executive management, category leadership, marketing, creative and design, development and external partners to manage the successful creation and execution of Under Armour’s digital products. He will be based out of Under Armour’s San Francisco office and starts on January 8, 2018.
La Guardia was most recently the head of product for both Yahoo! Finance and Sports. Prior to Yahoo!, Michael worked with AOL/Netscape in increasing positions of responsibility including Mozilla.org, the Netscape Browser and AIM, among other products. After Time Warner Cable bought the merged AOL/Netscape, he worked as VP of product management at LiveOps.
“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 Fipps. “This integration significantly enhances our ability to engage consumers with elevated experiences, premium products and personalized services.”
Additionally, after years of post-acquisition leadership, Mike Lee and Albert Lee, the co-founders of MyFitnessPal, announced their decision to leave the company in January to pursue their next entrepreneurial ventures.
“We’re appreciative of the nearly three years that Mike and Al have fully and generously served at Under Armour following the acquisition in early 2015,” added Fipps. “During this time, their leadership, partnership, and vision have made a significant contribution to ensuring that Under Armour’s digital business is in the best position for success.”