Philip H. Knight (born February 24, 1938 in Portland, Oregon) is an American billionaire and the co-founder and former CEO of Nike, Inc.. Knight is known for his monetary support of the University of Oregon, where he received his bachelor's degree in accounting in 1959. Knight received his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1962. In 2006, Phil Knight donated $105 million to Stanford GSB - at the time by far the largest donation to a business school in history. Knight also provided monetary support to Cleveland High School (Portland, Oregon), the high school that he attended, for their new track, football field, and gymnasium.
Phil Knight | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 24, 1938 |
| Occupation(s) | Co-founder and Former CEO of Nike, Inc. |
| Spouse | Penny Knight |
| Children | Three |
| Website | Nike Corporation |
While at the University of Oregon, Knight ran for legendary coach Bill Bowerman. Knight was a letter winner in 1957, 1958, and 1959.
Knight's 35% stake in Nike gives him an estimated net worth of US$10.4 billion, making him the 69th richest American.[2] Knight stepped down as the company's CEO and President on December 28, 2004, while retaining the position of chairman of the board. He was replaced by William Perez, former CEO of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., who was in turn replaced by Mark Parker in 2006.
Biography
Entrepreneurial beginnings
Philip Knight was a track runner at the University of Oregon. Knight's track coach at the U of O was Bill Bowerman. 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 comparison, with many being made by tire companies and costing as little as $5. Knight, not being the best on the team, often found himself experimenting with Bowerman's latest shoes. Bowerman and Knight worked together to continue to develop the ideas that would become Nike shoes.
Right after graduation Knight enlisted in the Army for a year, and then enrolled at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
In Frank Shallenberger's small business class Knight discovered a love affair with something besides sports - he discovered he was an entrepreneur. Knight recalls in a Stanford Magazine article[3]: "That class was an 'aha!' moment" ... "First, Shallenberger defined the type of person who was an entrepreneur--and I realized he was talking to me. I remember after writing that paper, 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.
After getting a 'real job' 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. It was here that he visited an Onitsuka plant, which was making Adidas running shoe knock-offs. So impressed with quality and low cost, he decided to cut a distribution deal in the U.S. with them 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. These early sales finally allowed Knight to break away from his accountant day job by 1971.
It was actually Jeff Johnson, a friend of Knight's who suggested the name Nike and luckily, Johnson's opinion prevailed. Nike is named after the Greek winged goddess of victory. Nike's logo, now considered one of the world's most powerful logos with goodwill worth tens of millions on the balance sheet, 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, some time later in 1983 (Nike went public in 1980), Davidson was given an undisclosed amount of stock from Knight and Nike for contribution to the company.
Labor issues
Knight was named a "Corporate Crook" in Michael Moore's book Downsize This! in 1997. 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. That interview can be seen in Moore's film The Big One – of the nearly 20 CEOs that Moore tried 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.
Knight pledged in 1998 to impose more stringent standards for the factories that Nike hires to make its goods, including minimum age standards, factory monitoring and greater external access to Nike's practices.
Athletics
In 2000, he was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame for his Special Contribution to Sports in Oregon.
On August 18, 2007, Knight announced that he and his wife, Penny, would be donating $100 million dollars to the University of Oregon Athletics Legacy Fund.[1] This donation is reportedly the largest in the University's history.
References
- ^ Phil Knight page on Forbes.com
- ^ "The 400 Richest Americans". Retrieved 2008-01-18.
- ^ "The Force Behind the Nike Empire". Retrieved 2008-01-18.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2007) |
External links
- Stanford Magazine article
- 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