Adolf Dassler was a German cobbler, inventor and entrepreneur who established one of the biggest sportswear companies in the world – Adidas. Before he founded Adidas, he had co-founded a sports shoe manufacturing company with his elder brother Rudolf Dassler. The two worked together for more than two decades. However, disagreements between the brothers led to their separation and they established their own companies – Adidas by Adolf and Puma by Rudolf. An innovative shoe designer with keen interest in sports, Adi Dassler realised early that, for better performance, each sport requires specifically designed shoes for athletes. His interactions with sportspeople not only gave him enough feedback to improve his products but also made him an early promoter of endorsements from athletes (like Lina Radke and Jesse Owens) which eventually led to increased sales of his products. By the time he died in 1978, he had successfully managed to make Adidas the largest manufacturer of sportswear equipment in the world.
