While at University of Maryland, Plank launched Cupid's Valentine, a seasonal business selling
roses on
Valentine's Day. Cupid's Valentine earned $3,000, which Plank used as seed money for Under Armour.
Under Armour The idea that led to Under Armour was sparked while playing for the
Maryland Terrapins; Plank said he was the "sweatiest guy on the football field". After graduating from Maryland, Plank searched for synthetic materials that would keep athletes dry. Using a mix of his own cash, credit cards, and a
Small Business Administration loan, he launched the business. He also attempted to name his company Body Armor, but efforts to trademark that name were also unsuccessful. He also asked his former teammates to try on the shirts, claiming that his alternative to a cotton T-shirt would enhance their performance on the field. As his friends moved on to play professionally, he would send them T-shirts, requesting that they pass them out to other players in their locker rooms. His first big team sale was to
Georgia Tech. In 1996, Plank finished his first year selling shirts with $17,000 in sales. The ad resulted in $1 million in direct sales for the following year, and athletes and teams began buying the product. Between 2014 and 2016, Under Armour spent close to $1 billion to acquire makers of activity- and diet-tracking mobile apps. Many long-term employees questioned Plank's strategy and whether the company would produce a return on their investment. Plank spent hours in one-on-one conversations to try to persuade those employees. The strategy was a success, earning the company the world's largest digital health-and-fitness community, with 150 million users. As CEO, Plank oversaw a company that generated in annual revenue and employed about 15,800 people as of December 31, 2017. Plank announced his departure as CEO in October 2019, and was succeeded on January 1, 2020, by Under Armour
COO Patrik Frisk. Plank is a member of the board of trustees for the National Football Foundation. Plank and
Stephanie Ruhle, a journalist, were questioned by lawyers in early 2023 regarding a 2017 lawsuit by shareholders of Under Armour that alleges the company artificially inflated its share price, resulting in losses for them. Court documents showed that Plank gave Ruhle a phone with a special email address to communicate with him privately and at all hours, sent her confidential financial information about the company and enlisted her help to refute concerns about slumping sales. During his deposition, Plank described Ruhle’s role by saying: “She’s a confidant. I would give her counsel on her career and she would give me counsel on things I was dealing with that were either banking or media or human nature in relation.” In her deposition, Ruhle said she took free trips with Plank on his private plane. When asked if she were acting as a friend or journalist on those trips, she said in her deposition: “I was flying on his plane as myself, Stephanie Ruhle. I’m not really in a category one or the other.”
Sagamore Farm Plank bought the 630-acre historic
Sagamore Farm in
Baltimore County, Maryland, in 2007. The property was once owned by
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt. The farm was the home to stallion
Native Dancer, who went 21 for 22 during his racing career from 1952 to 1954. Plank has said he seeks to restore the farm and rejuvenate Maryland's horse racing tradition by raising a
Triple Crown winning horse. There are about 100 horses on Sagamore farm, with about 40 actively training as of July 2017.
Plank Industries Beginning in 2013, Plank's real estate firm, Sagamore Development, was leading a $5.5-billion
mixed-use development project in Baltimore's
Port Covington area. The company had acquired approximately 235 acres in the area Plank also founded the
whiskey distillery Sagamore Spirit in 2013. He was initially approached about creating a
vineyard, but being a whiskey enthusiast he asked his business partner to research whiskey. The
limestone aquifer on Plank's farm produced water fit to distill whiskey, Following Plank's renovation, the building reopened as the Sagamore Pendry Hotel. ==Philanthropy==