The CEO of Brooks Running calls Warren Buffett Boss. He also calls it “the goat of capitalism”
Dan Sheridan has been working at Brooks in progress for over 25 years, and he has been CEO for over a year now, but he says he is still learning things from his own boss every day: Warren Buffett. The 95 -year -old investment legend is famous as “the Oracle of Omaha” for his deep business sense. You will not see Sheridan in disagreement with this feeling.
“We are so lucky,” said Sheridan recently FortuneNext leadership podcast, reflecting on the status of Brooks as a subsidiary in exclusive property of Berkshire Hathaway. “Our property structure can be the largest in the world, right? We have – that I would call the goat of capitalism – Warren Buffett, “said Sheridan. “Goat”, of course, means “the biggest of all time”, an acronym in the world of sport is spreading more and more to other horizons.
The remark is more than an occasional compliment. For the Brooks race, being part of the Berkshire Hathaway family has indicated a rare degree of stability and confidence, in particular in a world of retail known for its incontenuated and its fast pivots.
Sheridan, a 25 -year -old Brooks employee who took the reins as CEO in April 2024, remembers his meetings with buffett over the years, including annual shareholders’ meetings of Berkshire Hathaway. These rallies, often a pilgrimage for investors and business lovers, have also become a moment for Brooks to celebrate the milestones with its famous owner.
“ You have to do a thousand things to keep your brand strong ”
At first glance, the maxim seems simple. But as Sheridan points out, “the truth is that it is a huge thing to do for us. You have to do a thousand things to keep your brand strong. You must create an excellent product. You should keep your morale and your culture.
This concentration on progressive and coherent improvement echoes the Warren Buffett game book, avoiding rapid fixes and risky games for what Sheridan calls “investment, really difficult decisions and capacities”. For Brooks, this has indicated a constant investment in innovation and technology, a careful brand culture and an unshakable connection with its main runner community. But Sheridan is alert from something he learned from another Berkshire goat, the long -standing man of Buffett, Charlie Munger.
Watch out for your ABC
Sheridan adopted a leadership mantra learned at the Munger heel: avoiding the “ABC” of business decomposition. “He talks a lot about organizations avoiding ABC: arrogance, bureaucracy and complacency.” For Sheridan, it’s more than a edifying story; It is a daily discipline.
“I approach things with weak arrogance because I don’t know everything. So I’m super curious to know how I approach people,” said Sheridan. He underlines the importance of humility and listening, aimed at promoting an organization where questions are invited and learning is constant – echoing a central principle of shared philosophy of Munger and Buffett on learning throughout life.
Sheridan’s intolerance for bureaucracy is just as strong. “I often say that I am allergic to the bureaucracy … Even in non-profit organizations or in the school committees that have asked me, my first question is:” Is there a lot of bureaucracy in this organization? ” I can’t work there.
This approach helped keep Brooks Nimble – despite its growing world size and scope. Comlacement, the third danger, is still present among market managers like Brooks. “I think each organization can rest on your story, and we are not immune to that in Brooks,” said Sheridan.
Brooks advances
Brooks Running currently holds position No. 1 in performance shoes in the United States and Germany, and has experienced record growth in international markets-after a jump of 15% of world income in the first quarter of 2025, with overvoltages up to 221% in Asia-Pacific and Latin America and Latin America. But Sheridan is categorical: “In all other markets, we have a lot of room to grow.”
Brooks has been on a growth tear in recent years, displaying $ 1.2 billion in revenues for 2023, with North America representing the lion’s share. Sheridan has played a key role in business navigation through everything, world disturbances in the supply chain through the changing dynamics of consumers’ taste in the Arena of Sports Goods. Now, with a new mandate from Buffett and the Board of Directors, Brooks seeks to extend abroad, in particular in China and Europe.
According to Sheridan, this growth depends on the ruthless avoidance of complacency and concentration on daily execution. The recent expansion of Brooks – from the partnerships of the Olympic athletes to popularity in China and Europe – was fueled by this state of mind.
“We belong to whom I would call the goat of capitalism: Warren Buffett.”
On the last episode of #LeadershipNEXT,, @brooksrunning CEO Dan Sheridan shared the best advice he received from the investment of the legend and the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett.
🎧 Listen … pic.twitter.com/dfmbmo0mrn
– Fortune (@fortunemagazine) July 29, 2025
The leadership style of the CEO, shaped by almost three decades in Brooks, was also marked by a desire to “keep your head above the clouds, but your feet in the mud,” said Sheridan earlier this year. For Sheridan, balanced a high -level vision with practical operational focus is crucial to leading a brand through rapid industry changes, fierce competition and global complexity in terms of.
For Brooks’ running, Berkshire Hathaway’s “goats of capitalism” are not only personalities far from the conference room – these are active mentors whose commercial philosophy shapes all major decisions. By embracing humility, by reducing administrative formalities and refusing to ride on past victories, Sheridan aims to write the next chapter in the history of the Brooks century – a defined by resilience, adaptability and above all, staying hungry.
For this story, Fortune Used a generative AI to help an initial project. An editor checked the accuracy of the information before the publication.
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