Phil Knight
Phil Knight
Philip Hampson "Phil" Knightis an American business magnate and philanthropist. A native of Oregon, he is the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike, Inc., and previously served as chairman and CEO of the company. In November 2015, Forbes named Knight the 15th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$28.1 billion. He is also the owner of the stop motion film production company Laika...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth24 February 1938
CityPortland, OR
CountryUnited States of America
Ultimately, we wanted Nike to be the world's best sports and fitness company. Once you say that, you have a focus. You don't end up making wing tips or sponsoring the next Rolling Stones world tour.
We're not in the fashion business, as the Wall Street Journal wrote the other day. We're in the sports business, and there's a big difference.
We wanted Nike to be the world's best sports and fitness company. Once you say that, you have a focus. You don't end up making wing tips or sponsoring the next Rolling Stones world tour.
Sports is like rock 'n' roll. Both are dominant cultural forces, both speak an international language, and both are all about emotions.
Meeting sports athletes that are the best in the world is a thrill to this day.
Our business practices are no different than those of our competitors, but we are bigger, and thus more visible, so we get more flack.
I was very aware of shoes when I was running track. The American shoes were offshoots of tire companies. Shoes cost $5, and you would come back from a 5-mile run with your feet bleeding.
We could see that he was a charismatic guy who jumps over the moon and is very competitive, but nobody could have predicted what he would become to our culture.
At first, we couldn't be establishment, because we didn't have any money. We were guerrilla marketers, and we still are, a little bit. But, as we became No. 1 in our industry, we've had to modify our culture and become a bit more planned.
We are committed to improving working conditions for the 500,000 people who make our products,
It's disappointing, but it's still a really good book. I'm glad Kenny did it, and I'm glad it's going to get out. ... I still endorse the book. I think everybody should buy it. I think he did a great job on a very complicated topic.
At the end of the day, I guess my feeling is that it was sort of a failure to communicate.
They have done great things within what you would call established American sports. Freddy has the potential to bring soccer almost for the first time into the public's consciousness. Soccer in the United States isn't really part of the culture. What it needs, I think, is a superhero, and he clearly could be it. Now, that's putting a lot of pressure on him, but the kid's got all the potential to do that.
The transition from a CEO founder to a new manager is a very, very difficult one.