The CEO Who Gave 60,000 Employees His Cellphone Number

HERZOGENAURACH, Germany—A former professional soccer player, Bjørn Gulden says that when he took over Adidas just over a year ago, it felt as if the German sports giant was losing by four goals at halftime.

Morale was down after the collapse of its Yeezy collaboration with rapper Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, and employees complained about a lack of transparency.