Leonard Armato is the founder and CEO of Management Plus Enterprises (MPE), and has been a leader in developing, positioning, and building “high growth” brands converging sports, media, marketing, and technology; he was CMO of Skechers; President of Skechers Performance Division, Founder/CEO of the AVP Pro Beach VB Tour; and was a board member of the Harlem Globetrotters. He is strategic adviser to high profile CEOs and is a Master at Enabling Greatness.
Armato transformed the way celebrities were marketed by masterminding the development and launch of Shaquille O’Neal’s brand, evolving the superstar from athlete to institution and “tech influencer” by activating a coalition of powerful marketing partners that supported Shaq’s newly developed brand positioning. Armato also developed the “Golden Boy” brand for Oscar De La Hoya and created the marketing infrastructure for Golden Boy Promotions, one of the world’s largest boxing promotion companies.
As CMO of Skechers he oversaw the company’s creative agencies and orchestrated two celebrity Super Bowl campaigns with Kim Kardashian and others, and as President of Skechers Fitness was instrumental in launching the company’s performance division.
Embracing the tech revolutionary early, Armato created the NBA Technology Summit with now NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. The Tech Summit continues to be a must-attend event at NBA All Star Weekend. He also created Digital Media Campus, the first ever incubator created to launch digital direct to consumer businesses anchored in sports and entertainment with partners Larry Ellison, Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Ron Conway, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Quincy Jones, and Pamela Anderson, among others.
And as a sports entrepreneur, Armato was the founder of the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour and established it as the first-ever “lifestyle” sport, as well as the creator of the FIVB World Championships of Beach Volleyball and The World Series of Beach Volleyball. A champion of Women’s Sports, he was the first to put men and women under one umbrella in beach volleyball and pay equal prize money and mandate equal TV time for both men and women and was a driving force behind beach volleyball becoming an NCAA Championship sport for women.
He is a graduate of the University of San Diego School of Law where he received the USD Law School “Distinguished Alumni” Award and gave the commencement speech at USD Law School.