Sitting of their Zurich headquarters, On’s sanguine co-CEO, Martin Hoffmann, and his colleague and On co-founder Caspar Coppetti, have motive to be relaxed. One other quarter of surprising progress has notched one other $3 billion to their model’s worth.
There’s an elephant within the room, nonetheless. It’s not taking over a lot room although, given the elephant is a newly-empty seat on the CEO desk.
Hoffmann will quickly tackle the position of On’s CEO alone when his co-CEO Marc Maurer leaves the corporate in June. Maurer mentioned he deliberate to embark on a “new chapter” in his skilled life after greater than 14 years on the firm.
Maurer and Hoffmann each joined On from Swiss meals retailer Valora in 2012 and 2013, respectively, as COO and CFO, with Maurer wooing his buddy over to what was then a little-known operating startup. The pair has operated as co-CEOs since 2021.
From July, although, Hoffmann, a monetary whizz by commerce and by nature, will take the reins of On alone, with out Maurer to lean on.
“I had a extremely robust relationship with Marc and a deep, deep friendship,” Hoffmann advised Fortune following the discharge of On’s first-quarter earnings.
“I’ll miss that, however we have now been tremendous shut, principally in all components of the enterprise, along with completely different focuses. However there aren’t any blind spots, and we’re not altering technique.”
Hoffmann, whose precedence will shift from his present twin position as CFO, admits he loves numbers as a lot as he does individuals. For a corporation higher identified for design, innovation, and funky collaborations with Gen Z idols, finance might want to take a backseat.
“The energy of On is just not the numbers, it is the group,” mentioned Hoffmann.
“My purpose was to allow this group to be at their finest. And I do not suppose this adjustments. The main target from the place I do it can change, however the perspective stays the identical.”
Hoffmann might hardly take sole cost of On in a greater place.
On Tuesday, the group reported a 43% surge in income within the first quarter of 2025 in contrast with a yr earlier, whereas it elevated its income and profitability steering for the remainder of the yr.
The final quarter marked the second in a row that On beat its income expectations.
New model partnerships, together with a February Tremendous Bowl commercial that includes tennis nice and On investor, Roger Federer, and Elmo, have helped the corporate defy short-run expectations inside a wider purpose of doubling gross sales between 2023 and 2026.
On wrapped up its earnings week by hitting a document valuation of $19.65 billion as buyers piled into the operating model within the wake of the shock outcomes, having began the week valued at round $16 billion. On is now the third most respected publicly traded footwear model on the planet behind Nike and Adidas.
The group’s surge has come as these legacy sportswear corporations have regressed. Shares in Nike have plunged greater than 15% because the begin of the yr, whereas Adidas shares have fallen greater than 8%. On, in the meantime, has risen in worth by 8% this yr. With a present operating shoe market share of round 10%, the corporate’s management is laser-focused on driving this even greater.
“Our long-term imaginative and prescient is to be the primary model in operating,” Coppetti advised Fortune.
On’s advertising and marketing
Attending to the mantle of the primary operating model actually seems to be much more sensible now than when its co-founders first began experimenting with strapping hose pipes to the underside of conventional trainers. It’s, nonetheless, a unique path from the one which introduced On so far.
On developed as a challenger model largely by way of word-of-mouth advertising and marketing and an opportunistic growth in operating amongst youthful individuals, whose greater disposable earnings, social media consciousness, and newfound give attention to health have proved a goldmine for the athletic model.
“I feel we’re benefiting from this well being and wellness pattern the place youthful adults… they will the fitness center moderately than going to the bar,” mentioned Coppetti. The group’s profitable partnership with Zendaya hasn’t harm its enchantment with younger clients both.
“We’re fairly obsessed,” Coppetti says about persevering with to boost On’s model recognition.
The corporate has been forensic in transitioning from an internet mannequin to erecting bodily shops, contemplating precisely the place to put every of its 53 shops, proper all the way down to the road nook, to keep up its exclusivity whereas rising.
“We do not wish to overshoot, and that enables us to, for instance, be very selective with retail companions we wish to work with, or which shops we wish to be in, which avenue, which nook of that avenue we wish to have our retailer on and all of it feeds into this premium positioning,” says Coppetti.
On’s two London shops exemplify that technique, with one situated on the unique Regent’s Avenue, and the opposite within the stylish east-side procuring zone of Spitalfields. Coppetti notes some 200 individuals participate in a run membership from that retailer repeatedly. You could be fairly assured that an On rep will make an undercover look at different run golf equipment, too.
“We really exit and we go to the foremost operating routes within the huge cities, and we go and depend individuals, and we see what merchandise they’re carrying, each footwear and attire,” Coppetti mentioned.
The corporate does the identical at operating occasions. On will get extra reduce by way of amongst quick distance runners, as much as half marathon distances. It’s hoping to seize extra marathon runners when it launches its “tremendous sneakers” later this yr.
There can be different challenges alongside the best way. Nonetheless a nascent model, On hasn’t but proved it could possibly trip out demand dips and transfer past fears that it’s a “fad” shoe. And regardless of having operations within the U.S., the Swiss model isn’t any much less uncovered to tariffs than its rivals. Nonetheless, On is planning value will increase this yr, unrelated to tariffs, and CEO Hoffmann clients are prepared to remain on the trip, nonetheless bumpy issues get.
“We wish to be essentially the most premium international sports activities model, and premium is the decisive phrase right here,” Hoffmann says. “And in case you are clear concerning the North Star, we even have clear route in sorts of uncertainties like this.”
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
