World-Famous Sneaker Maker a Graduate of Marion’s Tabor Academy

The next time you lace up your Reebok sneakers, thank Massachusetts native Paul Fireman, a 1962 graduate of Marion's prestigious Tabor Academy. Tabor was recently ranked in the top 30 best private high schools in Massachusetts.

Fireman, born on February 4, 1944 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was raised in Brockton. After graduating from Tabor Academy, Fireman attended Boston University but did not graduate.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Fireman acquired the North American sales rights to Reebok in 1979 from Joe Foster, the owner of the English running shoe company founded in 1895. He bought the company outright in 1984 and ran Reebok International for 26 years as its chairman and chief operating officer.

The Times reported Fireman began working at the family business, Boston Camping, when he was 18, selling sporting goods for the next 15 years.

Fireman developed several golf courses in Massachusetts, Arizona and Puerto Rico over the years, and according to the World Bridge Federation, Fireman and his wife, fellow Brockton native Phyllis (née Brenner) are competitive world champion bridge players.

The couple established the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation in 1985.

Get our free mobile app

Fireman has received many professional awards, including the Tabor Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 and the Thurgood Marshall Corporate Leadership Award.

CNN reported Fireman sold Reebok to rival Adidas in 2006 for $3.8 billion and that Fireman made $800 million from the deal. The network reported Adidas sold off Reebok at a loss in 2021 for $2.5 billion.

Fireman currently serves as chairman of the Boston-based Fireman Capital Partners, which he founded with his son Dan in 2008. Dan Fireman serves as the firm's managing partner.

Reebok's corporate headquarters are in Boston.