Gone are the days of garden hose prototypes. In 2010, retired Ironman champion Olivier Bernhard was gluing pieces of rubber tubing onto shoe soles in a Zurich garage, trying to engineer the perfect running sensation. That scrappy experiment birthed On. Fast forward to September 18, 2026, and the company is preparing to take on the sportswear titans with a headline-grabbing coup: Kylian Mbappé.
The French superstar is officially out of his long-term Nike contract. It’s not just a logo swap. According to Andscape, Mbappé is taking an equity stake in the Swiss firm, giving him a direct hand in developing On’s football products. He’s joining as a shareholder, not just a face on an ad campaign.
On hasn’t always been a soccer powerhouse. The brand built its empire on running shoes, expanding into tennis with Roger Federer’s involvement in 2019. But football is the big leagues. To make this work, they’ve hired Thierry Henry as director of football. The former Arsenal and France legend will help guide the strategy.
The financials back up the ambition. On’s market capitalization sits around $10 billion, up sharply after 2025 net sales hit CHF 3.014 billion—a 30% jump from the previous year. Shoes drove most of that, generating nearly CHF 2.8 billion. The stock trades on the NYSE under the ticker ONON, a far cry from its garage origins.
Nike lost a flagship athlete. On gained a co-owner. The next big question isn’t whether On can sell shoes; it’s whether they can conquer the pitch. The first Mbappé-designed kit drops soon, and the football world is watching.