Kevin Plank is an American businessman and philanthropist who has a net worth of $2 billion. Kevin Plank is the founder, former CEO and current chairman of Under Armour Inc. which manufactures apparel, footwear and accessories for sports.
Kevin also operates a real estate firm named Sagamore Development, and founded the whiskey distillery Sagamore Spirit. Beyond his entrepreneurship, Plank has made numerous charitable contributions to organizations throughout Baltimore and Washington, DC.
While in college, he launched his first business, a Valentine’s Day related rose seller. After college, he developed an idea for a shirt that would wick away sweat, and began searching for a material that would do what he wanted. After multiple prototypes, he hit on the synthetic material that seemed to work best, and he sent samples to his friends, many of whom were college or professional athletes. They wore the shirts and passed them on to colleagues. In 1999, his company, now called Under Armour, placed an ad in ESPN Magazine, and over $1 million in orders poured in.
Kevin Plank Billionaire Status
As Under Armour’s largest individual shareholder, Plank’s net worth has soared (and soured) since the company went public in 2005. At the stock’s peak, Plank’s net worth was $6 billion. Between 2016 and 2018, UA stock dropped from an all-time high of $50 to an all-time low of $8. With the drop, around $4 billion in net worth was shaved from Kevin’s pockets.
In October 2019, Kevin stepped down as CEO of Under Armour. At the time his net worth was $1.8 billion. By mid 2020 his net worth had dropped to $1.1 billion.
Early Life and Education
Kevin Plank was born on August 13, 1972 in Kensington, Maryland as the youngest of five boys of William, a Maryland land developer, and Jayne, a former mayor of Kensington who later worked at the United States Department of State under President Ronald Reagan. Growing up, Plank played youth football with the Maplewood Sports Association. He went to Georgetown Preparatory School, but dropped out due to behavioral issues and poor academic performance. Plank subsequently attended St. John’s College High School, from which he graduated in 1990. He went on to enroll at Fork Union Military Academy, where he played football for a year while trying to get the attention of schools in the NCAA Division I. Failing to be recruited by collegiate football programs, Plank enrolled at the University of Maryland, College Park, graduating in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
