Adolf Dassler
Co-founder 1949Background
Adolf Dassler was born in 1900 in Herzogenaurach, Germany, into a family environment shaped by craft work, local manufacturing, and the economic constraints of early twentieth-century Bavaria. Before Adidas existed, he made sports shoes in modest workshop conditions and became known for studying how athletes actually moved rather than treating footwear as a generic leather product. In the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory Adolf was the product obsessive: he cared about studs, fit, weight, traction, and sport-specific construction. His early exposure to Olympic athletes and football players convinced him that equipment could alter performance outcomes. That idea became the intellectual foundation of Adidas after the split with Rudolf Dassler.
Role at Adidas AG
The founding of Adidas is one of the most famous and bitter family feuds in corporate history. The company was founded by Adolf 'Adi' Dassler, a German cobbler who began making sports shoes in his mother's washroom in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, after returning from World War I. Adi was obsessively focused on improving athletic performance through equipment. He was joined by his older brother, Rudolf 'Rudi' Dassler, an extroverted salesman who handled the business operations. Together, they formed the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory) in 1924. The brothers achieved international fame during the 1936 Berlin Olympics when they convinced American sprinter Jesse Owens to run in their spiked shoes. Owens won four gold medals, instantly cementing the global reputation of Dassler footwear. However, during World War II, the relationship between the brothers violently deteriorated. The exact cause remains heavily debated—ranging from misunderstandings during Allied bombing raids to accusations of betrayal to the Gestapo—but the rift became permanent. In 1948, the brothers split the company and the town's workforce. Adi Dassler took his half of the operation across the Aurach river and formally registered his new company, 'Adidas' (a portmanteau of Adi Dassler), in 1949. He also registered a shoe that featured three side stripes, a functional design meant to add stability that became the brand's iconic logo. Meanwhile, his brother Rudi founded a competing company on the other side of town, which he named Puma. This bitter sibling rivalry consumed the town of Herzogenaurach and birthed the modern, competitive sports marketing industry, as both companies battled to sponsor the world's top athletes for decades to come.