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Philip H. Knight (born February 24, 1938) is an American billionaire, co-founder and Chairman of Nike, Inc.. He resigned as the company's chief executive officer in 2004, while retaining the position of chairman of the board. As of 2007, Knight's 35% stake in Nike gives him an estimated net worth of US$9.8 billion, making him the 30th richest American.^[1]

A graduate of the University of Oregon and Stanford Graduate School of Business, he has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the schools. Knight gave the largest donation in history at the time to Stanford's business school in 2006. A native Oregonian, he ran track for coach Bill Bowerman at the University of Oregon, with whom he would co-found Nike.

Early years

Phil Knight was born February 24, 1938 in Portland, Oregon, the son of lawyer and later newspaper publisher.^[2] Knight attended Cleveland High School in Portland before enrolling at the University of Oregon in Eugene where he graduated in 1959 with a journalism degree.^[2] He was a middle-distance runner at the school under track coach Bill Bowerman and ran a personal best 4:10 mile,^[3] winning varsity letters for track in 1957, 1958, and 1959. He is also a proud brother of the International Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta

Budding entrepreneur

Bowerman had been experimenting with new shoe designs using his wife's waffle iron. In those days running shoes were low quality by today's standards, with many being made by tire companies and costing as little as $5.^[2] Knight, in an effort to improve his times, often found himself experimenting with Bowerman's latest shoes. Bowerman and Knight worked together to continue to develop the ideas that would become Nike running shoes.

Right after graduation from Oregon, Knight enlisted in the Army and served one year on active duty and seven years in the Army Reserve.^[2] After the year of active duty, he enrolled at Stanford Graduate School of Business.^[2] In Frank Shallenberger's small business class, Knight developed a love affair with something besides sports - he discovered he was an entrepreneur. Knight recalls in a Stanford Magazine article^[2] "That class was an 'aha!' moment" ... "Shallenberger defined the type of person who was an entrepreneur--and I realized he was talking to me. I remember after saying to myself: 'This is really what I would like to do.' " In this class Knight needed to create a business plan. His paper, "Can Japanese Sports Shoes Do to German Sports Shoes What Japanese Cameras Did to German Cameras?", essentially was the premise to his foray into selling running shoes. He graduated with a Masters of Business Administration from the school in 1962.^[2]

After getting a regular job as an accountant as his father suggested, Knight decided to make a trip to Japan to refine his ideas, and help quench his high interest in all things Asian.^[2] There he visited an Onitsuka plant, which was making Adidas running shoe knock-offs. So impressed with the quality and low cost, Knight decided to cut a deal with them for U.S. distribution rights before leaving.

Nike's origin

Knight's first sales were made out of a now legendary green Plymouth Valiant at track meets across the Pacific Northwest. By 1971, these early sales allowed Knight to leave his accountant job.

It was Jeff Johnson, a friend of Knight's, who suggested the name Nike. Nike is named after the Greek winged goddess of victory. Nike's logo, now considered one of the most powerful logos in the world, was commissioned for a mere $35 from Carolyn Davidson. According to Nike's website, Knight stated "I don't love it, but it will grow on me." However, in 1983 (Nike went public in 1980), Davidson was given an undisclosed amount of stock from Knight and Nike for her contribution to the company's brand.

Labor issues

Knight was named a "Corporate Crook" in Michael Moore's book Downsize This! in 1996. The book cited the harsh conditions in Indonesian sweatshops, where pregnant women and girls as young as fourteen years old sewed shoes for factories that the company contracted to make its products. Moore went to Knight in the hopes of convincing him to fix this problem. The interview can be seen in Moore's film The Big One – of the nearly 20 CEOs that Moore wished to interview for his movie, only Knight agreed to speak with Moore.

Knight informed Moore that Nike does not own any of the factories that make its products. Knight told Moore if he was willing to invest in and build a factory in the US that could match the quality and price of footwear made overseas, Nike would consider buying shoes from him.

In 1998, Knight pledged to impose more stringent standards for the factories that Nike engages to manufacture its goods, including minimum age standards, factory monitoring, and greater external access to Nike's practices.

Philanthropy

In 2000, Knight was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame for his Special Contribution to Sports in Oregon.^[4] Knight is believed to have contributed approximately $230 million dollars to the University of Oregon, the majority of which was for athletics.^[5] On August 18, 2007, Knight announced that he and his wife, Penny, would be donating an additional $100 million dollars to the University of Oregon Athletics Legacy Fund.^[6] This donation is reportedly the largest in the University's history.

However, Knight's contributions to the Athletic department at U of O have not come without controversy.^[7] His significant contributions have granted him influence and access atypical of an athletic booster. In addition to the "best seats in the house" for any U of O athletic event, he has his own personalized locker in the football team's locker room, and an athletic building named for him (as well as a library; the law school is named for his father). However, most controversial was his successful lobbying to have his friend and former insurance salesman, Pat Kilkenny, named as Athletic Director.^[8] Kilkenny, another wealthy athletic booster, has neither a college degree nor any germane experience. Kilkenny attended but did not graduate from the University of Oregon. The former chairman and chief executive officer of the San Diego-based Arrowhead General Insurance Agency, he grew his business into a nationwide organization with written premiums of nearly $1 billion when he sold the company in 2006.^[9] ESPN's "Outside the Lines" spotlighted Knight and his donation-backed influence on U of O athletics on an April 6, 2008 episode.

In 2006, Phil Knight donated $105 million to Stanford GSB - at the time the largest donation to a business school in history.^[10] Knight also provided monetary support to his high school alma mater Cleveland High School for their new track, football field, and gymnasium.

Later years

Knight resigned as the company's CEO November 18, 2004, while retaining the position of chairman of the board.^[11][12] He was replaced by William Perez, former CEO of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., who was in turn replaced by Mark Parker in 2006.^[13]

References

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External links

• Origin of the Swoosh
• Knight to Leave Nike Top Job - Wikinews
• Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People
• Nike founder is Ducks' spiritual godfather - The Seattle Times, 31-Oct-2006, by Bud Withers
• Movers & Shakers: Entrepreneurs who rocked our world. - Entrepreneur Magazine, May 2007
• USA Today story on Knight and facial coding