The origin story of Puma has all the elements of a family saga. Two brothers—Adi and Rudi Dassler—in the small Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach, separated after World War II and founded two rival sportswear brands. Adi created Adidas using the initials of his first and last name, while Rudi chose to name his new company after a powerful feline: Puma, a clear metaphor for the agility he wanted to embody in his running shoes. However, the rapid growth of this company, born from family tensions, has slowed recently, and the German firm is now mired in a financial crisis that has forced it to make cuts. A few weeks ago, Puma announced it would lay off 900 employees from its corporate offices before the end of the year. The company, which employs around 7,000 people worldwide, had already cut 500 jobs this year to reduce costs. This decision is part of an internal restructuring that the group launched at the beginning of the year, which also included a change in CEO, a position held since July by Arthur Hoeld. Interestingly, Puma's new CEO comes from a career of more than 25 years at Adidas, which is experiencing the complete opposite, with double-digit sales growth and improved operating margins. In contrast, during the third quarter, Puma's revenue fell by 10.4%, excluding the effects of currency exchange rates, to €1.955 billion. In the first nine months of the year, this decline was 4.5%, with losses in all regions where it operates and across all product divisions.

The singer José Luis Rodríguez, better known as El Puma, is in the middle of theMeeting Tour. Taking advantage of the concerts he has in Spain, the Venezuelan artist has been on the set of The Anthill to talk about his professional career. The singer, who has been a musical reference for ballads in recent decades and is 81 years old, didn't mince his words when it came to explaining the medical problems he's had, which left him between life and death and forced him to stay off the stage.