Paul Fireman

Paul Fireman founded Reebok USA in 1979 and as of mid-2004 had been the company's only CEO. Reebok USA was formed when Fireman, attending a sporting goods trade show in London, bought the rights to the Reebok line of custom running shoes from the British shoe company J. W. Foster & Sons. Fireman introduced the first women's athletic shoe, for aerobics, in 1982, spurring a fitness wear and fashion revolution that molded Reebok into one of the fastest-growing companies of all time. Under Fireman Reebok expanded rapidly throughout Europe and the rest of the world. The Reebok brand eventually became available in more than 170 countries.