Usain Bolt Has A Lifetime Partnership Deal With Puma Says Manager

Jamaican sprint sensation turned Dancehall music producer Usain Bolt had revealed to WMV that he signed a a lifetime partnership deal with Puma.The revelation was made by his manager Nugent Walker in an exclusive interview with the World Music Views.

Bolt, who is battling to recover 12.7 million dollars which was stolen in an investment heist at brokerage firm Stock and Securities Ltd. becomes the first Track And Field athlete to sign such a deal with Puma.

The ten day ultimatum given by lawyers representing eight time Olympic Gold medalist Usain Bolt to embattled stock brokerage firm Stock and Securities LTD. came to an end January 27. As the saga unfolds over the last three weeks in the multi-billion dollar fraud allegations against the St. Andrew based bolt has posted several cryptic messages on his social media as he comes to terms that he may never received the majority of his US$12, 758,181.74 investment that was taken from his WellJenn holding account.

On January 23rd, the “anything is possible’ star posted words from the Dave Kelly written Bounty Killer song “Anytime”: “Look into my eyes, tell me what you see, can you feel my pain? Am I your enemy?~ BK”

Despite expressing pain on social media for his financial loss and ongoing legal steps to recover his money, Usain Bolt made his first public appearance at the launch of the Gibson McCook Relays and said in a press conference that he is ‘not broke.’

“I don’t want to say too much but, as we know, from everybody’s standpoint it doesn’t look good. I’ve read a few comments and everybody is confused. I am as confused as the public but we’ll see what happens,” Bolt said.

“No, I’m not broke, but it (losses)has definitely put a damper on me and it was for my future. Everybody knows I have three kids, I am still looking after my parents, and I still want to live very well,” Bolt added.

The Country Yutes producer also revealed that he fired his business manager amidst the ongoing investigations.

He also posted on January 23rd: “The real ones see through all the PR distractions. #Focus” on the same morning that former CEO of Stock and Securities Zachary Harding said in an interview that he didn’t know that Bolt had an account at the company during his 19 month tenure. 

Harding, who in his previous career was manager to Sean Paul and as a music producer recorded Beenie Man’s “Who Am I,” also said in an interview on Nationwide 90 fm that he knows Usain Bolt socially but he is not a friend of Bolt. He followed up the interview with two statements via the media distancing himself from the theft which happened at the firm over ten years.

He admits that in taking the job at SSL he inherited many “irregularities”,but he worked to fix them.

Finance Minister Nigel Clarke have among other things indicated that he is seeking overseas assistance in investigating the theft at the company and has since directed that the FSC takes over the SSL temporary and has acquired a court order stating  that no assets be transferred or company restructured.

Bolt’s letter sent by law firm Frater, Ennis & Gordon outlined that up to the 31st of October 2022, Bolt had received a statement showing that he had  in the account but that sun was quickly depleted to US$12,047.65. As a result Bolt is demanding full payment by January 27, otherwise he will proceed with legal action.

Bolt’s Lifetime Deal

Without revealing the dollar value, his other manager Nugent Walker told WMV that Puma is fully on board to support Usain in all aspects of life including music. Walker, who has been managing Usain’s career for over a decade, said although success was eminent, at first he had reservations with the idea of managing Bolt in the early days.

“I started managing Usain in 2009, I’m his best friend, he was going through some things so he asked me to come back home to manage him. Strange enough I told him ‘no’ like a hundred times ‘I’m like dude find a manager’.”

He said it was Bolt’s persistence that brought the two together in a professional manner.

“In a real way Usain has always believed in me and always encouraging me and I took on the journey and applied myself, I am obsessed with reading and I was patient in learning the craft”.

When asked if he gets nervous with such responsibilities he said, “I am always one seeking the knowledge, always enquiring… that’s the luxury of working with Usain”

Usain has been with Puma since the early days of his career but once found himself on rocky ground after a disappointing season in Athens.

Jochen Zeitz former chairman of Puma, now CEO of Harley Davidson said in a 2012 conversation at the Hilton Kingston hotel “I remember after the Athens Olympics some people were saying he’s never going to make it… but I was bright enough to sign him and was bright enough not to let him go when he was injured,” according to the Jamaica Observer.

Since then Bolt has reinvented himself and climbed to the top of track and field giving the Puma brand tremendous leverage.

Ten years later, the two are now inseparable with this one-of-a-kind lifetime partnership deal.

“Usain has a lifetime partnership with Puma not predicated on him being an athlete. Usain will always be an athlete but even with the music it’s an expansion of the lifestyle brand…even during the pandemic, Usain was not competing but creating news in various ways. That’s how you transition into lifestyle,” Walker said.

Walker said his strategy is to use all that Bolt is presently to transition into his next set of goals, in particular a career in the music industry.

Over the years Usain has done several international partnerships with Hublot, Virgin, Digicel, Gatorade and many others.

“When you manage a brand like Usain people love the energy”  a very calm Walker asserts.

When asked about the overall value of Usain Bolt’s brand an elusive Nugent Walker, affectionately called NJ, said, “The brand is growing and we are very thankful for what the almighty has blessed us with. We are very understanding and cognizant of the role that Usain play in exporting brand Jamaica, Usain epitomizes that…I don’t necessarily want to speak on the exact money value but we are big in creating generational wealth.”

In commenting on the future of the Bolt brand Walker stated, “One minute it could be real estate, next it could be IP. There’s no limit to what we gonna push”.

Bolt’s Puma partnership places him among an elite group of lifestyle athletes with “lifetime partnership deals” including Lebron James, Michael Jordan and Christiana Ronaldo, who all have deals with Nike. Forbes Magazine reported that, “James signed a lifetime deal with Nike at the end of 2015 worth more than $1 billion…His first Nike deal was worth $90 million.

Longstanding Puma boss Björn Gulden has left to steer the ship over at Adidas as he takes over from Kasper Rørsted who left while the company is in public image crisis amidst discrepancies with Ye (Kanye West.)

Watch full interview with Walker up top