Kevin A. Plank (born August 13, 1972) is an American entrepreneur and businessman. Plank is the founder, CEO and Chairman of Under Armour, a manufacturer of sports performance apparel, footwear and accessories, based in Baltimore. His net worth, according to Forbes, as of February 14, 2018, is USD $1.8 billion.
Video Kevin Plank
Early life
Plank grew up in Kensington, Maryland, a suburb of Washington D.C., the youngest of five brothers born to William and Jayne Plank. His father, William, was a prominent Maryland land developer. His mother, Jayne (née Harper), is a former mayor of Kensington, who went on to direct the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at the United States Department of State under President Ronald Reagan.
Plank, a Roman Catholic, grew up playing youth football with the Maplewood Sports Association; a Maplewood team has appeared in Under Armour commercials. He left Georgetown Preparatory School because of poor academic performance and behavioral issues, then went on to graduate from St. John's College High School in 1990. Afterward, he played football at Fork Union Military Academy for a year, trying to get the attention of NCAA Division I schools. He was not recruited by the top-tier collegiate football programs. However, he went to University of Maryland, College Park and walked onto the team there. He graduated in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in business administration.
His roommate at Maryland was a football player and professional wrestler Darren Drozdov. Following a 1999 in-ring accident which left Drozdov quadriplegic, Plank personally financed his customized wheelchair.
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Career
At the University of Maryland, Plank launched various businesses. He developed Cupid's Valentine, an annual business that sold roses for Valentine's Day. He made $17,000 from the rose business, which eventually became seed money for Under Armour.
He stated that the original concept for Under Armour arose because he was the "sweatiest guy on the football field". Frustrated by his sweat-soaked cotton T-shirts' inability to keep him dry and comfortable, he searched for a material that would wick the sweat from his body.
Plank, upon graduating from Maryland in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in business administration, searched for synthetic materials to test his hypothesis. He tried several prototypes before deciding on the one he wanted to use. He asked his former teammates to try on the shirts, claiming that his alternative to a cotton T-shirt would enhance their performance on the field. As his friends moved on to play professionally, he would send them T-shirts, requesting that they pass them out to other players in their locker rooms. A turning point for him and his start-up, Under Armour, which was based out of a Georgetown row house owned by his grandmother, came late in 1999. A $25,000 advertisement in ESPN The Magazine resulted in $1 million in direct sales for the following year and athletes and teams began buying the product.
In 2003, Under Armour's first television advertisement showed a football squad huddled around Plank's former University of Maryland teammate Eric Ogbogu, shouting "we must protect this house". The phrase became a sales slogan for Under Armour.
In 2012, Plank was named #3 on Forbes' annual 40 Under 40 list, and #3 on Forbes' list of America's 20 Most Powerful CEOs 40 and Under. The company's revenues reached $1 billion for 2010. He is the company's biggest shareholder and has majority voting control, owning all 12.5 million of Under Armour's Class B shares, worth $720 million in August 2011. In December 2011, his net worth was estimated by Forbes at $1.05 billion.
Between 2014 and 2016, Plank led the charge for Under Armor to acquire makers of activity- and diet-tracking mobile apps. The company spent close to $1 billion buying and investing the apps. Many long-term employees questioned Plank's strategy and whether the company would produce a return on their investment. Plank spent hours in one-on-one conversations to try and persuade those employees."It was important," Plank said, "that this not just be my decision. The strategy was a success, earning the company the world's largest digital health-and-fitness community, with 150 million users.
As of the start of 2017, Plank's real estate firm, Sagamore Development, was leading a multi-billion-dollar mixed-use development project in Baltimore's Port Covington neighborhood. The company had acquired at least 148 acres in the area and planned to build a mix of offices, residential areas, retail space, parks, boat launches and more.
Sagamore's projects included the redevelopment of a former garage into a startup hub, the construction of a distillery and the development of an upscale hotel in Recreation Peir in Fells Point, Baltimore.
Personal life
Plank married Desiree Guerzon in 2003.
In 2013, Plank purchased a mansion in the Georgetown section of Washington D.C. for $7.85 million.
Activism
Politics
According to the Federal Election Commission, Plank has donated to both major U.S. political parties and to individuals of both parties. On CNBC's Halftime Report in February 2017, Plank commented on President Donald Trump's pro-business philosophy, saying the president was a "real asset" to the business community. Plank's comments drew criticism on social media. As some customers vowed to boycott the brand, three major endorsers--Stephen Curry, ballerina Misty Copeland, and actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson--went on Twitter to express their opposition. Johnson called Plank's words "divisive". In the days following the remarks, Plank bought a full-page advertisement in The Baltimore Sun to clarify his comments. In the ad, Plank said Under Armour stood for job creation, but publicly opposed the president's proposed travel ban.
Plank sat on the President Trump's American Manufacturing Council. He stepped down from the council following President Trump's comments on violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, saying Under Armour "engages in innovation and sports, not politics". Additionally, he publicly opposed President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Accord and was among the Fortune 500 CEOs to sign a pledge to promote workplace diversity and inclusion.
Other work
Plank has been a long-time supporter of the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business and Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. In addition to sitting on the University's Board of Trustees, he played an integral role in the development of an endowment fund that the Dingman Center uses to invest in viable startup businesses. He is responsible for the development of the annual Cupid's Cup business competition. The competition got its name from his "Cupid's Valentine" rose business he began while attending the University.
Plank is also active within the Baltimore and Washington D.C. communities sitting on the Board of Directors for the Baltimore City Fire Foundation, the Greater Baltimore Committee and Greater Washington Sports Alliance. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees for Living Classrooms, a Baltimore-Washington based non-profit organization dedicated to the hands-on education of young people using urban, natural and maritime environments as "living classrooms".
In 2016, he donated $1 million through The Cupid Foundation to the Baltimore based nonprofit, CollegeBound.
Plank is a member the Board of Trustees for the National Football Foundation and the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. His involvement in philanthropy has also translated to his business. Under Armour supports the V Foundation for cancer research and has its own Power in Pink campaign, raising funds for breast cancer research and education. In addition, Under Armour supports the Boomer Esiason Foundation, the Rock Foundation, Ronald McDonald House and Conservation Fund. The Company also has a "Give Back" program, encouraging employees to become involved with local charities.
In November 2014, Plank made a pledge of $25 million to the University of Maryland to be used for the proposed athletics and academic complex.
References
External links
- Appearances on C-SPAN
Source of article : Wikipedia
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