Nico Bouyakhf succeeds Michael Schmitz, who left the company. His appointment coincides with co-CEO Markus Bensberg also stepping away from the company’s day-to-day operations. Bouyakhf will report directly to Oliver Reichert, CEO.

Nico Bouyakhf arrives from Nike, where he was General Manager of Sportswear in Central EMEA. His 20-year career "spans fashion and sportswear and has seen him hold management positions with global or pan-European responsibility". Earlier in his career, he also worked for Converse and Zalando, among others. Mr. Bouyakhf will be responsible for "ensuring growth and more robust sales" in individual European markets. The key to this will be the increasing digitalization in those markets.

This appointment follows the Franco-American private equity firm L Catterton acquiring a majority stake in Birkenstock in partnership with Bernard Arnault’s holding company, Financière Agache.