Herbert Hainer was elected president of the football club with the largest membership in the world at the FC Bayern München eV Annual General Meeting on 15 November 2019, succeeding Uli Hoeneß.
Hainer had been deputy chairman of the FC Bayern München AG supervisory board since the company’s incorporation in 2002. On 9 December 2019, he was unanimously voted chairman of the supervisory board by his colleagues and thereby elected to this post as successor to Uli Hoeneß. He previously held the office of chairman of the FC Bayern München AG supervisory board from 14 March 2014 to 8 September 2014, after Uli Hoeneß temporarily resigned his position.
Herbert Hainer was born on 3 July 1954 in Dornwang, near Dingolfing. After graduating from high school, he studied business administration at Landshut University of Applied Sciences, graduating in 1979 with a degree in business administration. Hainer then began his professional career with the internationally active care products group Procter&Gamble in Frankfurt. In 1987, Hainer switched to the sports goods manufacturer adidas. After holding several management positions there, he was appointed to the executive board in 1997 and became chairman of the executive board in 2001.
From then on, Hainer headed the international sporting goods group of 55,000 employees and 110 subsidiaries for 15 years. During this time, the value of the company increased twelvefold from €3 billion to €36 billion, sales grew from around €6 billion per year to over €18 billion per year, and profits quintupled from around €200 million to over €1 billion. In 2016, Hainer resigned from his position as CEO at his own request.
In 2002, Hainer was responsible for adidas AG's purchase of a 10% stake in FC Bayern München AG. This made adidas the first shareholder of the record champions, creating the financial basis for the construction of the Allianz Arena.
Hainer always attached great importance to social responsibility during his time as CEO of adidas. This commitment has resulted in countless awards, for example, as the most sustainable company and the best employer.
Since his youth, Hainer has been a passionate fan of FC Bayern. He himself was an striker for FC Dingolfing, with whom he won the Lower Bavarian championship in 1976.
During his business administration studies, Hainer ran a pub in Dingolfing, the ‘Gußofen’. There, he met his wife Angelika, to whom he has been married for more than 30 years. The couple have one daughter. Their second daughter died in 2006.
Hainer is a member of the supervisory boards of the Lufthansa Group, Allianz SE and the global management consultancy Accenture.
Hainer has received numerous honours for his achievements in sports management. In addition to the Bambi Prize in the economics category (2003) and the Image Award (2006), he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2008) and the Bavarian Order of Merit (2011). He was also named Entrepreneur of the Year (2005) and Manager of the Year (2010).